'^^B. 

y  — -.^ 

0 

I 


:> 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 

Form  L-1 

\*^\ 

cotk.8.. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


'^0^  3  0  192, 

APR   2  7  jggy 

MOV  8      1927  "^^ 


Mn  2  2  '.93t 


T^ 


I 


OCT  3  1  1941 


m 


iM^v 


'%lsl 


mi 


3m-8,'20 


^^^2  7  mo 

AUG  2  7  1962 


.^ 


,,.„,f°"THERN    BRANCH 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LIBRARY 

LOS    ANGEl'gS./CAtyn'    ■ 


OUTLINES  FOR 

EXPERIMENTAL 
PSYCHOLOGY 


BY 

H.  L.  HOLLINGWORTH,  Ph.D. 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 
COLUMBIA  UNIVKESITY 


tJi  AT5S  NORMAL  SCHOOL 


0    34  '17  ■ 

n: ORK 

A.  G.        ILER 


Copyright,  1914 
By  a.  G.  SEILER 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Co.^ 

New  York 


\ 


19  I 

tin 


z 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 


PART  I. 

General  Outline  for  the  Course 9 

Topical  Outlines  and  References 11 

PART  11. 

General  Laboratory  Instructions 27 

Laboratory  Manual 29 

Supplementary  Experiments 108 


PREFACE 

The  only  justification  for  the  existence  of  an  Outline  for 
Experimental  Psychology  is  to  be  found  in  its  usefulness.  In 
order  to  be  useful,  such  a  manual  should  serve  several  distinct 
piurposes.  It  should  encourage  rather  than  inhibit  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  student  who  is  beginning  the  study  of  human  nature  imdei" 
controlled  conditions;  it  shotdd  assist  in  giving  such  a  student  a 
general  and  more  or  less  systematic  view  of  the  wide  field  of  psycho- 
logical inquiry;  it  should  constitute  a  guide  rather  than  an  author- 
ity; it  shoiild  be  detailed  enough  to  enable  the  instructor  to  give 
his  attention  to  the  student  rather  than  to  the  implements;  with 
all  this,  it  should  allow  sufficient  freedom  to  avoid  becoming  itself 
the  main  object  of  investigation.  The  outline  here  presented  has 
seemed  to  serve  these  various  purposes  in  my  own  teaching. 

The  system  which  it  follows  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  classifica- 
tion of  psychological  elements,  processes  or  mechanisms.  It  is 
merely  a  convenient,  and,  in  my  experience,  a  suggestive  classifica- 
tion of  the  topics  or  subject  matter  of  the  course.  It  affords  a 
gradual  transition  from  topics  which  may  be  studied  by  the  purely 
objective  methods  of  the  physical  sciences,  through  material 
related  to  the  popular  notion  of  psychology  as  the  "interpretation" 
of  conduct,  to  that  more  analytic  and  introspective  type  of  inves- 
tigation which  is  sometimes  held  to  be  the  only  respectable  psycho- 
logical pursuit. 

The  Outline  is  primarily  intended  to  serve  as  the  basis  of  an 
introductory  laboratory  or  practise  course,  rtmning  throughout 
one  academic  year,  with  two  or  three  lectures  and  three  to  five 
laboratory  hours  each  week.  Its  arrangement  is  sufficiently 
flexible  to  permit  of  its  being  used  in  various  other  ways  as  well. 
It  pre-supposes  the  use  of  a  modest  reference  library  rather  than 
the  study  of  any  single  text  book.  It  avoids,  so  far  as  practicable, 
the  introduction  of  special  apparatus  and  intricate  machinery. 
Its  choice  of  subject  matter  is  determined  by  an  interest  in  the 


6  Preface 

dynamics  of  thought  and  conduct,  rather  than  in  the  analysis  and 
description  of  the  immediate  contents  of  consciousness. 

Perhaps  the  only  evidences  of  originality  to  be  discerned  in 
the  Outline  and  Manual  are  to  be  found  in  the  arrangement  of 
subject  matter  and  in  the  formulation  of  a  few  of  the  experiments. 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  appropriate  useful  experiments  from  books 
and  teachers,  regardless  of  the  time  or  place  of  their  original  de- 
scription. Wherever  possible,  my  indebtedness  to  these  sources 
is  indicated  by  their  inclusion  among  the  references.  In  the  formu- 
lation of  instructions  for  several  of  the  experiments  on  association 
and  imagery  I  have  profited  by  suggestions  from  unpublished 
laboratory  outlines  used  by  Prof.  R.  S.  Woodworth  in  his  courses 
on  experimental  psychology. 

H.   L.   HOLLINGWORTH 

Columbia  University,  New  York  City 


Part  I. 
TOPICAL  OUTLINE 

AND 

REFERENCES 


GENERAL    OUTLINE   FOR   THIS    COURSE 
(Laboratory,  Lecttires,  Collateral  Reading,  Demonstrations.) 

A — General  and  Introductory. 

I — The  Problems  and  History  of  Experimental  Psychology. 

2 — Laboratory    Methods — Technique     of     Measurement    and 

Record,  Sources  of  Error. 
3 — Uniformities  and  Differences  in  Human  Nature,  The  Curve 

of  Distribution  as  Applied  to  Mental  Traits,  Statistical 

Methods. 

B — Externally  Observable  Behavior. 

I — Psychology  of  Work — Learning,  Practise,  Skill,  Fatigue,  Rest, 
External  and  Internal  Conditions  of  Efficiency,  Work 
Habits,  Attitudes,  Influence  of  Drugs,  Motion  Studies, 
Management,  Periodicity,  Dynamogeny,  Correlation  of 
Abilities,  Tests,  etc. 

2 — Efficiency  of  Simple  Nervous  Arcs — Psychometric  Measure- 
ments, Reaction  Time  Methods  and  Resvilts,  Application 
of  Reaction  Methods. 

C — Semi-Observable  Behavior. 

I — ^Attention — ^its  Nature,  Laws,  Basis,  Results,  Types  and 
Forms. 

2 — Suggestion — Character  and  Laws,  Basis,  Individual  Differ- 
ences, Pathology. 

3 — Sleep — Nature  and  Causes,  Experimental  Studies,  Drowsi- 
ness, Hygiene. 

4 — Dissociation — Basis,  Meaning  and  Applications  of  the  Con- 
cept. 

S — The  Unconscious  and  Subconscious — Descriptive,  Theoretical 
and  Critical. 

D — Expressive  Behavior. 

I — Expressive  Movements — their  Origin,  Character  and  Func- 
tion. 
2 — Physiognomy,  Phrenology  and  Character  Estimation. 

9 


10  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

3 — Psychology  of  Speech  and  Language — Individual,  Social, 
Pathological. 

4 — Emotion,  Mood  and  Temperament — Characteristics,  Basis 
and  Classification;  the  "Type"  in  Literature,  History,  Art, 
and  Psychology. 

5 — Symbolism  and  Expression  of  Inanimate  Objects — Empathy, 
Feeling  Tone  of  Design  and  Arrangement,  Formal  and  Struc- 
tural Preferences,  Psychology  and  Experimental  ^Esthetics. 


E — Semi-Introspective  Experience. 

I — Perception — Space,  Time,  Rhythm,  Reading,  Illusions. 

2 — Kinsesthesis — Its  Importance  in  Mental  Life,  Basis  and 
Criteria. 

3 — Association — Basis,  Laws,  Types,  Forms,  Classes,  Individual 
Differences,  Conditions  and  Applications.  Psycho-analy- 
sis. 

4 — Dreams — Character,  Types,  Origin  and  Significance. 

5 — Memory — Recall  and  Recognition,  Characteristics,  Laws, 
Conditions,  Methods,  Types,  Experimental  Results. 


F — ^Purely  Introspective  Experience. 

I — Sensation — Character,  Basis,  Attributes,  Measurements,  Re- 
lations, Relative  Esthetic  Values.  Intensive  Study  of 
one  or  two  of  the  Special  Senses. 

2 — Centrally  Excited  Sensations  (Imagery  and  Imagination) — 
Characteristics,  Types,  Laws  and  Fimction  of  Imaginal 
Experience. 

3 — ^Affective  Qualities  (Feelings) — Affection  and  Sensation, 
Dimensions  of  Feeling,  Basis  of  Affective  Qualities,  Classi- 
fication, Criteria  and  Fimction.  Methods  of  Impression 
and  Expression. 

4 — Meaning  and  Relation — Concepts,  Judgment,  Thinking, 
"Imageless  Thought". 

5 — Impulsion — Desires,  Wishes,  Conation,  Motive,  Purpose, 
their  Basis,  Forms,  and  Varieties.  Conflict,  Repression, 
Rationalization.  Experimental  Studies  of  Volition  and 
Choice. 


G — Review  and  Synthesis. 

I — The  Psychological  "Schools",  their  Differences  and  Agree- 
ments.   Systematic  Psychology. 


DETAILED  TOPICAL  OUTLINE  AND  REFERENCES 

A — General  and  Introductory. 

I— HISTORY  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  PSYCHOLOGY. 

I — The  Ancients — Democritus,  Empedocles,  Aristotle,  Plato. 

2 — The  Middle  Ages  and  the  Scholastics. 

3 — The  Anatomy  Movement,  in  Art  and    Science.     Influence 

on  Psychology. 
4 — Philosophical  Subjectivism — Locke,  Berkeley,  Hume,  Kant, 

Mueller. 
5 — The    Association    Psychology — Hartley,    Hobbes,    Herbart, 

Bain,  Mill,  Spencer. 
6 — Phrenology,  Physiognomy,  etc. — Goll,  Burdach,  Mantegazza, 

Bell,  Lombroso. 
7 — Psychophysics — Weber,  Fechner,  Cattell,  etc. 
8 — Psychometry — Wundt,  Helmholtz,  Cattell,  etc. 
9 — Individual  Differences — Galton,  Binet,  Stem,  Cattell,  Thorn- 
dike,  etc. 
lo — Genetic,    Animal    and    Comparative    Psychology — Darwin, 
Morgan,    Hall,    Thomdike,    Watson,    Yerkes,    Baldwin, 
Jennings,  Washburn,  etc. 
11 — Systematic  Psychology — Wtmdt,  Kuelpe,  James,  Titchener, 

Stout,  etc. 
12— Abnormal  Psychology— Kraepelin,  Janet,  Freud,  Jung  and 

many  others. 
13 — ^Applied  Psychology — Gross,  Stem,  Muensterberg,  Scott  and 

many  others. 
14 — Neurology  and  Physiological  Psychology. 
15 — ^Anthropology,  Sociology,  Ethnology  and  related  fields. 

References — 

Weber — History  of  Philosophy. 
Dessoir — History  of  Psychology. 
Ribot — German  Psychology  of  Today. 
Ribot — English  Psychology  of  Today. 
Klemm — History  of  Psychology. 
Scripture — The  New  Psychology. 
Villa — Contemporary  Psychology. 
Baldwin — History  of  Psychology. 
Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  (Quantita- 
tive). 
Stratton — Experimental  Psychology  and  Ctdture 

11 


12  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

II— GRAPHIC   AND    STATISTICAL    METHODS    IN  PSYCHOLOGY 

I — ^Various  Types  of  Curves  and  Recording  Devices.  (Distribu- 
tion, Practise,  Fatigue,  Memory,  Pulse,  Breathing,  etc.) 
The  Meaning  and  Usefulness  of  the  Graphic  Methods. 

2 — The  Use  of  Statistics — Average,  Median,  Mode,  Measures 
of  Variability,  Probable  Errors,  Constant  and  Variable 
Errors.     Methods  of  Correlation. 

3 — Standard  Apparatus  used  in  Psychological  Laboratories. 


References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Ch.  X. 
Scripture — The  New  Psychology. 
Thomdike — Mental  and  Social  Measurements. 
Davenport — Statistics . 
Titchener — Experimental  Psychology. 
Judd — Laboratory  Equipment  for  Psychological 
Experiments. 

Ill— UNIFORMITIES  AND  DIFFERENCES  IN   HUMAN   NATURE. 

I — Nature  and  Amount  of  Individual  Differences  in  Mental 
Traits. 

2 — Conditions    of    Individual    Differences — Trait,  Age,    Race, 

Training,  Sex,  etc. 
3 — Correlation  between  Mental  Traits.     Nature  and  Conditions. 
4 — Modifiability  of  Traits  by  Selection,  Practise,  Interest,  etc. 
5 — Tests  of  Intelligence — Tests  for  Defectives,  Vocational  Tests, 

etc. 


References — 

Thomdike — Individuality. 

Thomdike — Educational  Psychology. 

Stem — Die  Differentielle  Psychologic. 

Boas — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 

Whipple — Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests. 

HoUingworth — Correlation  of  Abilities  as  Affected 
by  Practise — Jour.  Educ.  Psych.  Sept.,  1913. 

HoUingworth — Individual  Differences  Before,  Dur- 
ing and  After  Practise — Psych.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1914' 

Wells — Relation  of  Practise  to  Individual  Differ- 
ences— Am.  J.  Psychol.,  191 1. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  13 

B — Externally  Observable  Behavior. 

IV— PSYCHOLOGY  OF  GENERAL  EFFICIENCY. 

I — Methods  of  Measuring  Mental  and  Motor  Work. 

2 — Learning  a  New  Performance — Practise  and  the  Practise 
Curve.  Characteristics  of  Learning  Curves  of  Men  and 
Animals,  Plateaus  and  their  Significance,  Methods  of  Work, 
Conditions  of  Improvement,  Individual  Differences.  Inter- 
ference. 

3 — Continued  Work  at  a  Perfected  Performance — Bahnung, 
Spurts,  Periodicity,  Economical  Distribution  of  Effort, 
Work  Habits,  Rhythm,  Influence  of  Drugs,  Inhibition, 
Fatigue,  Dynamogeny,  Suggestion,  Rest. 

References — 

Book— The  Psychology  of  Skill. 

Ruger — The  Psychology  of  Efficiency. 

Swift — Mind  in  the  Making,  Chap.  VI. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth,  Physiological  Psychology, 

Pt.  II,  Chap.  VIII. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XIV. 
Scott — Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business. 
Thomdike — The  Psychology  of  Learning. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth,  pp.  536-541. 

Mosso — Fatigue. 

Offner — Mental  Fatigue. 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XIV. 

Marsh — The  Diurnal  Course  of  Efficiency. 

Jones — Influence  of  Posture. 

Hollingworth — Influence  of  Caffein  on  Efficiency. 

Hollingworth  (L.  S.) — Functional  Periodicity. 

James — The  Energies  of  Men. 

Thomdike — Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  III. 

V— EFFICIENCY  OF  SIMPLE  NERVOUS  ARCS. 

I — Chronometric  Methods  and  Measurements.  Factors  Involved 
in  Reaction. 

2 — Types  of  Reaction  Situation  and  Reagents.  Reaction-time 
in  Daily  Life. 

3 — Internal  and  External  Determinants  of  Reaction-time.  Appli- 
cations. 

4 — The  Use  of  Reaction-time  Methods  in  Psychology — Individual 
Differences,  Nervous  Condition,  Influence  of  Drugs,  Diet, 
Disease,  Practise,  "  Tatbestandsdiagnostik "  and  Associa- 
tion-reactions, Analysis  of  the  "Higher  Mental  Processes. " 


14  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

References — 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology, 
Chap.  VI. 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XL 

Jastrow — Time  Relations  of  Mental  Phenomena. 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology. 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  (Qualita- 
tive). 

Cattell — Psychological  Researches,  Chap.  I. 

C — Semi-Observable  Behavior. 

VI — ATTENTION — (As  Mode  of  Behavior  and  State  of  Consciousness). 

I — Preliminary  Facts — Selection,  Prepotency  of  Stimvili,  Scope 
and  Span,  Individual  Differences,  Interest,  Absent-minded- 
ness, Distraction. 

2 — ^Attention  as  Behavior — Characteristic  Attitudes,  Accommo- 
dation of  Sense  Organs,  Re-enforcement,  Variations  in  Ease, 
Speed,  Uniformity  and  Amoimt  of  Work  as  Dependent  on 
Stimulus  and  Situation,  Facilitation. 

3 — Introspective  Characteristics — Distribution  of  "Clearness," 
Feelings  of  Effort,  Rhythm  and  Periodicity  in  Clearness 
and  Effort. 

4 — Results  of  Attention — Changes  in  Clearness,  Intensity, 
Duration,  Steadiness,  Scope  and  Speed  of  Process  Attended 
to.     Laws  of  Attention. 

5 — Classifications  of  Attention — the  Mechanical  Devices,  the 
Interest  Incentives,  Preperception.  Characteristics,  Laws, 
and  Relative  Values. 

6 — Experimental  Investigations  of  Attention.  Methods  of 
Measurement. 

7 — Theoretical — Nervous  Basis  of  Attention.  Activity  Theory, 
Motor  Theory,  Physiological  Theories,  Attention  and 
Interest,  Intensity  and  Clearness,  Cortical  Preparedness. 
Influence  of  Heredity  and  Training. 

References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XXV. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology, 

Special  Sections. 
Titchener — Text-book   of   Psychology,  Chap,  on 

Attention. 
Titchener — Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention. 
Pillsbury — Attention. 

Washburn— The  Animal  Mind,  Chap.  XIII. 
Hollingworth — Advertising    and    Selling,    Chap. 

II-VI. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  15 

VII— SUGGESTION. 

I— Illustrations  and  Definitions.  Long  and  Short  Circuit 
Action.  Motor  Character  of  Ideas.  Dissociation  and 
Action. 

2 — The  Laws  of  Suggestion  (Rivalry,  Spontaneity,  Intensity, 
Indirectness,  Polarity,  Prestige,  Resistance,  Summation, 
Attention) . 

3 — Individual  Differences  in  Suggestibility — Conditions,  Correla- 
tions, etc. 

4 — Suggestion  and  Hypnotism.     Hysteria  and  Allied  Disorders. 

References — 

Sidis — Suggestion. 

Moll — Hypnotism . 

Janet — The  Major  Symptoms  of  Hysteria. 

Ross — Social  Psychology. 

James — Principles    of    Psychology,     II.,    Chap. 

XXVII. 
Hollingworth — Advertising  and  Selling,Chap.XII. 
Scott — Theory  of  Advertising,  Chap,  on  ''The 

Direct  Command." 

VIII— SLEEP. 

I — Characteristics  and  Theoretical  Explanations  of  Sleep. 

2 — Experimental  Studies — Depth,  Influence  of  Drugs,  Sleep  of 

Animals,  Loss  of  Sleep,  Statistics. 
3 — Drowsiness,  the  Hypnagogic  State,  Dissociation  and  Sleep. 
4 — Individual  Differences  in  Habits  and  Needs.     Hygiene  of 

Sleep. 

References — 

DeManaceine — Sleep. 
Sidis — Experimental  Studies  of  Sleep. 
Howell— Physiology,  Chap.  XIII. 
Hollingworth — The  Psychology  of  Drowsiness. 
Hollingworth — Influence  of  Caffein  on  Sleep. 
Terman  and  Hocking — Sleep  of  School  Children— 
J.  of  Ed.  Psych.,  March,  April,  May,  191 3. 

IX— DISSOCIATION. 

I — Illustrations,  Concept,  Basis  and  Applications. 
2 — Habit  Formation,  Adaptation,  Suppression  of  Double  Images. 
3 — Simple  Forgetting,  Amnesias,  Anaesthesias,  Aboulias. 
4 — ^Absent-mindedness,  Abstraction,  Somnambulisms. 
5 — Miiltiple  Personalities,  Hysteric  Disorders,  Logic-tight  Com- 
partments. 


16  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

6 — Dissociation  and  Hypnotism.     Dissociation  and  Sleep. 
7 — Meaning  and  Value  of  the  Concept  of  Dissociation  in  Psy- 
chology. 

References — 

Hart — Psychology  of  Insanity. 

Coriat — ^Abnormal  Psychology. 

Ribot — Diseases  of  the  Personality. 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XXVII. 

Jastrow — The  Subconscious. 

Prince — The  Dissociation  of  a  Personality. 

Binet — On  Double  Consciousness. 

D — Expressive  Behavior. 

X— EXPRESSIVE  MOVEMENTS. 

I — Feeling  and  Emotion  and  Their  Correlated  Bodily  Attitudes. 
The  Origin  and  Function  of  Expressive  Movements. 

2 — Feeling  and  Emotion  and  Correlated  Organic  Changes  (Tonus, 
Glandular,  Respiratory  and  Electrical  Reactions,  Vaso- 
motor Changes). 

3 — The  Simple  Feelings,  the  Typical  Emotions,  and  their  Ex- 
pressions. 

4 — Mood  and  Temperament,  The  "Type",  Physiognomy  and 
Anthropometry. 

5 — ^Judgments  of  Character  and  Type,  Consistency,  Correla- 
tions, Individual  Differences. 

References — 

Wundt — Outlines  of  Psychology. 

Darwin — Expression  of  Emotions  in  Men  and 
Animals. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology, 
Chap.  VII. 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XXIV. 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap,  on  "  Emo- 
tion". 

Mantegazza — Physiognomy  and  Expression. 

XI— EXPRESSION  AND  INANIMATE  OBJECTS. 

I — Feeling-tone  of  Design  and  Arrangement — Lines,  Forms, 
Rhythm,  Balance,  Stability,  Complexity  and  Unity. 

2 — Formal  and  Structural  Preferences.  Experimental  Aesthet- 
ics. 

3 — ^Empathy  and  "Einfiihlung" — Nature  and  Basis,  Criticism. 

4 — Symbolism  in  Art,  Language  of  Ornament,  Synaesthesias. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  17 

References — 

Gordon — Aesthetics. 

HoUingworth — ^Advertising  and  Selling,  Chaps.  IX 

andX. 
Witmer — Analytical  Psychology. 
Puffer — The  Psychology  of  Beauty. 
Allen — Physiological  Aesthetics. 
Marshall — Pain,  Pleasure  and  Aesthetics. 
Parsons — Principles  of  Arrangement. 
Ross — Theory  of  Pure  Design. 
Him — Origins  of  Art. 

XII— SPEECH  AND  LANGUAGE. 

I — The  Origin  of  Language,   Primitive  Languages  and  their 

Psychology. 
2 — Psychological  Laws  in  Language  Formation  and  Change. 
3 — Origin  and  History  of  Writing,  The  Alphabet. 
4 — Language  and  Thought. 
5 — Psycho-linguistic  Problems. 

6 — Speech  Defects,  their  Varieties,  Causes  and  Treatment. 
7 — ^Aphasia,  Agraphia,  Alexia. 


References — 

Wundt — ^Volkerpsychologie. 

Mueller — Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Thought. 

Mueller — Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language. 

Scripture — Stammering  and  Lisping. 

Elder — Aphasia. 


E — Semi-Introspective  Experience. 

XIII— PERCEPTION. 

I — Nature  and  Laws  of  Perception — Perception  as  Behavior 
and  as  a  Mode  of  Consciousness — Illustrated  by  Reading, 
Space  and  Time  Perception. 

2 — Reading  as  Perceptual  Process — Eye  Movements  and  the 
Reading  Reaction,  Reading  Pauses  and  Fixations,  Letter 
Perception  and  Word-Form,  Determinants  and  Indiffer- 
ents,  Psychological  Process  in  Reading,  Heirarchy  of  Read- 
ing Habits,  Inner  Speech,  Meaning  and  Language. 

3 — Space  Perception — 

a — The  Space  Quale,  Nativist  and  Empiricist  Views; 
Voluminousness  as  Elementary  Space  Experience  in  Various 
Modalities  of  Sensation;  Basis  and  Conditions  of  Extensity. 


18  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

b — Local  Signature — Tactual,  Visual  and  Auditory- 
Local  Signs ;  the  Perception  of  Direction ;  Criteria  and  Laws ; 
Fusion  and  Synthesis;  Two-point  Discrimination;  Percep- 
tion of  Change. 

c — Perception  of  Distance  (Visual  Space) — 
Monooilar  Criteria — ^Accommodation,  Size,  Interference, 

Clearness,  Elevation,  Parallax,  Light  and  Shade. 

Binocular  Vision — Disparity  of  Images,  Convergence  and 
Divergence,  Corresponding  Points,  Homonymous  and 
Heteronymous  Images,  the  Horopter,  the  Cyclopean 
Eye. 

d — Perception  of  Depth  and  Solidity  (Stereoscopic 
Vision) — 

Images  Indistinguishable — Fuse,  Single  Flat  Object, 
Distinguishable  but  Consistent — Fuse,  Composite  Surface. 
Distinguishable  but  Inconsistent — Binocular  Rivalry. 
Consistent    on     Supposition — Fuse,     Solid     Object,    3rd 
Dimension. 

e — The  Stereoscope,  Telestereoscope,  Pseudoscope, 
Kinetoscope,  etc. 

f — Space  Perception  (Tactual,  Auditory,  Kinaesthetic) — 
Tactual  and  Visual  Space  Correlations.     Illusions. 
Criteria  of  Auditory  Localization.     Illusions. 
Perception  of  Extent,  Duration  and  Speed  of  MovemenL. 

g — The  Space  System — Inter-modality  Relations,  Co- 
ordination, the  Separate  Space  Worlds — their  Fusion  and 
Synthesis. 

4 — Perception  of  Time — 

a — Attribute  of  Duration,  and  Temporal  Character  of 
Experience. 

b — Duration  of  Sensations.     The  Specious  Present. 

c — The  Criteria  of  Temporal  Perception. 

d — Anomalies  and  Illusions  in  Perception  of  Duration 
and  Interval. 

e — Rhythm,  its  Laws  and  Phenomena. 


References — 

Chapters  on  Perception  in  the  general  texts. 
Chapters  on  Space  and  Time  in  the  general  texts. 
Chapters  on  Vision  and  Hearing  in  texts  on  Physio- 
logical Psychology. 
Dearborn — The  Psychology  of  Reading. 
Huey — Physiology  and  Psychology  of  Reading. 
Binet — The  Psychology  of  Reasoning. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  19 

XIV— KIN^STHESIS. 
I — Importance  of   Kineesthesis   in  Mental  Experience — Space, 

Time,    Rhythm,    Optical    and    Other    Illusions,    General 

Perception. 
2 — Origin  and  Topography  of  Kinaesthetic  Impressions. 
3 — Criteria  of  Judgments  of  Extent,  Force,  Speed  and  Duration 

of  Movement. 
4 — Methods  of  Studying  Movement  and  its  Psychology. 
5 — Motor  Accuracy  and  Inaccuracy.     Kinaesthetic  Illusions. 

References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  293-301. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology, 
Chap.  V. 

Hollingworth — The  Inaccuracy  of  Movement. 

Woodworth — Le  Mouvement. 

Woodworth — Accuracy  of  Voluntary  Movement. 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  330-338. 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  (Qualita- 
tive), pp.  1 51-170. 

XV— ASSOCIATION. 

I — Characteristics,  Conditions  and  Neurological  Basis  of  Asso- 
ciation. 

2 — Levels  of  Association  and  Associative  Processes. 

3 — Classifications  and  Laws — Principles  of  Connection  and  Re- 
vival. 

4 — Measurements  of  Association  Strength. 

5 — The  Association  Methods  and  their  Applications — 

''Tatbestandsdiagnostik",  Psycho-analysis,  Clinical  Diag- 
nosis. 

6 — ^Association  Reaction-types,  their  Determinants  and  Signifi- 
cance. 

7 — Pathology  of  Association. 

8 — Association  in  Daily  Life. 

References — 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XIV. 
Titchener,  Text-book  of  Psychology — Section  on 

"Association". 
Myers — Experimental   Psychology,   Chaps.   XII 

and  XIII. 
Kent    and    Rosanoff — Study    of   Association    in 

Insanity. 
Jung — Miscellaneous     Articles     on     Association 

Method. 
Calkins — Association  (Psych.  Rev.  Mon.  Suppl.) . 
Wells — Miscellaneous  Articles  on  Association. 
Woodworth  and  Wells — Association  Tests, 
Hollingworth — ^Advertising  and  Selling,  Chap.  XI. 


20  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

XVI— DREAMS. 

I — Characteristics,  Varieties  and  History  of  Dreams. 
2 — Causes,  Conditions  and  Mechanisms  of  Dreaming. 
3 — Drowsiness  and  Allied  States.     Hypnagogic  Hallucinations. 
4 — Interpretation  and  Meaning  of  Dreams.     Freudian  Psychol- 
ogy and  Analysis. 
5 — ^Analysis  and  Examination  of  Typical  Dreams. 

References — 

Ellis— The  World  of  Dreams. 
DeManaceine — Sleep . 
Freud — Die  Traumdeutung. 
Coriat — Abnormal  Psy  chology . 
Hollingworth — The  Psychology  of  Drowsiness. 
Special  Articles  in  Journals  of  Psychology  and 
Psychiatry. 

XVII— MEMORY. 

I — Definitions,  Distinctions  and  Illustrations. 

2 — ^Analysis  of  Memory  Process  and  Memory  Consciousness. 
Retention,  Recall  and  Recognition. 

3 — The  Forms  and  Classification  of  Memory. 

4 — Memorability  of  Different  Kinds  of  Material. 

5 — Mnemonic  Types  and  Devices  for  Aiding  Memory. 

6 — Experimental  Investigations  of  Memory — Methods,  Tech- 
nique and  Problems;  Rate  of  Learning  and  Memorizing; 
The  Curve  of  Forgetting,  for  Recall  and  Recognition ;  Con- 
ditions of  Efficient  Memorizing;  Individual  Differences. 

7 — Practical  Applications  of  Experimental  Results. 

8 — Pathology  of  Memory.     Diseases  and  Anomalies. 

References — 

Watt — The  Economy  and  Training  of  Memory. 

Colegrove — Memory. 

Ebbinghaus — On  Memory. 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XVI. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology, 

Chap.  VIII. 
Myers — Experimental    Psychology,    Chaps.  XII 

and  XIII. 
Pillsbury — Attention,  Chap.  IX. 
Hollingworth — Obliviscence  of  the  Disagreeable. 
Hollingworth — Characteristic  Differences  between 

Recall    and    Recognition — Am.    J.    Psychol., 

Jan.,  1914. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  21 

F — Purely  Introspective  Experience. 

XVIII— SENSATION. 

I — Elementary  Characteristics,  Basis  and  Classifications, 

2 — The  Problem  of  Attributes  (Modality,  Quality,  Intensity, 
Extensity,  Duration,  Clearness,  Locality,  Feeling-tone). 

3 — Modal  and  Qualitative  Differences.  Specific  Energies.  Genet- 
ic Problems. 

4 — Qualitative  Relations — Mixtures,  Fusions,  Complements, 
Contrasts,  Range  and  Distribution  of  Qualities  in  the 
Various  Modalities. 

5 — Sensitivity  and  Discrimination — Minimal  and  Maximal 
Stimuli,  Differential  Thresholds,  Psycho-physics,  Individ- 
ual Differences  in  Sensitivity. 

6 — Temporal  Relations — Inertia,  Duration,  Perseveration,  Adap- 
tation, Fatigue,  After-sensations. 

7 — Spatial  Attributes — Extensity,  Locality,  Local  Signature, 
etc. 

8 — Clearness  and  Intensity  as  Attributes,  Differences,  Bases. 

9 — Feeling-tone    of    Sensory   Experiences — Affective    Qualities, 
Value  Aspect  of  Sensory  Experiences,  Relative  Aesthetic 
Values  of  the  Modalities, 
lo — Disorders   of   Sensation — Anaesthesia,   Hypersesthesia,   Par- 
aesthesia. 

References — 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  (Qualita- 
tive) (Quantitative). 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 

McKendrick  and  Snodgrass — Physiology  of  the 
Senses. 

Other  General  and  Physiological  Texts. 

XIX— IMAGINATION. 

I — Centrally  Excited  Sensations — Character,  Basis,  Classifica- 
tion. 

2 — Structural  Distinctions — Image  and  Sensation,  Image  and 
Affection,  Differences  of  Intensity,  Clearness,  Texture, 
etc. 

3 — Behavior  of  Images — Influence  of  General  and  Special  Condi- 
tions, Habit,  Practise,  Age,  Drowsiness,  Drugs,  Purpose 
and  Intention,  Types  of  Imagery,  Reproductive  and  Crea- 
tive Imagination. 


22  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

4 — Experimental  Determination  of  Imaginal  Type,  Methods, 
Difficulties. 

5 — Function  of  Imagery  in  Thought  and  Action — Imagination 
and  Memory,  Imagery  in  Perception,  Discrimination, 
Thinking,  Production  of  Voluntary  Movement. 

6 — Pathology  of  Imagination.  Applications  of  Facts  and  Laws 
of  Imagery. 


References — 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology. 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  of  Higher 
Thought  Processes. 

Woodworth — The  Cause  of  a  Voluntary  Move- 
ment.    (Essays  in  Honor  of  William  James.) 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XVIII. 

Lay — Mental  Imagery. 

Betts — Distribution  and  Function  of  Imagery. 

Galton — Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  pp.  57!!. 

Hollingworth — Vicarious  Functioning  of  Irrele- 
vant Imagery — Jour.  Phil.,  Dec,  1911. 

Special  articles  in  the  periodicals. 


XX— AFFECTION. 

I — Characteristics  of  Elementary  Affective  Qualities.  Feeling 
and  Cognition. 

2 — Feeling  as  Attribute  of  Sensation.  Evidences  for  and 
against. 

3 — Feelings  as  Special  Sensations.  Various  Views  and  Argu- 
ments. 

4 — Feelings  as  Elementary  Experience.  Neurological  Basis. 
Relation  to  Economy  of  Energy,  to  End  of  Action  or  Ten- 
dency, to  Motor  Attitudes  and  Kinaesthetic  Complexes, 
to  Intensity  of  Nervous  Impulse,  to  Associated  Elements, 
etc. 

5 — Forms,  Dimensions  and  Varieties  of  Feelings.  Classifica- 
tion of  the  Simple  and  Complex  Feelings. 

7 — Methods  of  Experimentation — Methods  of  Impression  and 
Expression,  Typical  Experimental  Studies  and  their 
Results. 

8 — Determinants  and  Conditions  of  Feeling.  Individual  Differ- 
ences. 

9 — Genetic,  Fimctional  and  Pathological  Aspects. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  23 

References — 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  Section  on 

Affection,  Emotion. 
Titchener — Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XXIV. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 
Stout — Analytic  Psychology. 
Allen — Physiological  Aesthetics. 
Spencer — Principles  of  Psychology. 
Marshall — Pleasure,  Pain  and  Aesthetics. 

XXI— IMPULSION. 

I — Characteristic  Experiences  of  Desire,  Longing,  Wish,  Impulse. 

2 — Determining  Tendencies,  Motives,  Values,  Conscious  Atti- 
tudes, Awareness  of  Task  and  Instructions,  etc. 

3 — General  Character  of  Conation.  Nervous  Basis.  Tendency 
toward  End.     Consciousness  as  Process. 

4 — Descriptive  Psychology  of  Conation — Tendency,  Conflict, 
Resolution. 

5 — Belief,  Doubt,  Faith,  Acquiescence,  as  Conation  Complexes. 

6 — Pathology  of  Will,  Fixed  Ideas  and  Obsessions,  Abnormal 
Instincts,  Insanity  of  Doubt,  Negativism,  Aboulias,  Re- 
pressions, etc. 

References — 

Stout — Analytic  Psychology. 
Ribot — Diseases  of  the  Will. 
Hart — Psychology  of  Insanity. 


XXII— JUDGMENT. 

I — Nature  and  Mechanism  of  Judgment.  Perception  of  Rela- 
tions.    Basis. 

2 — Forms,  Varieties  and  Classification  of  Judgments  and  Rela- 
tions. 

3 — Laws,  Behavior  and  Conditions  of  Judgments. 

4 — Criteria  and  Bases  of  Typical  Judgments. 

5 — Problems  in  the  Individual  Psychology  of  Judgment — Con- 
sistency, Correctness,  Judicial  Capacity,  Correlations. 

6 — Judgment  Elaboration  and  Reasoning.  Psychology  and 
Logic. 

7 — Disorders  of  Judgment. 


24  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

References — 

Binet — The  Psychology  of  Reasoning. 

Pillsbury — The  Psychology  of  Reasoning. 

Titchener — Psychology  of  the  Higher  Thought 
Processes. 

Hollingworth — Experimental  Studies  in  Judg- 
ment. 

Dewey — How  We  Think. 


Part  II. 
LABORATORY  MANUAL. 


GENERAL  LABORATORY  INSTRUCTIONS. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  term  the  class  will  be  divided  into  pairs 
of  laboratory  partners,  who  will  work  together  throughout  the 
year.  In  the  laboratory  reports,  A's  book  will  contain  the  results 
which  he  has  obtained  from  his  experiments  on  B,  and  vice  versa. 
A  will  thus  be  known  as  the  "experimenter"  or  "operator"  and  B 
as  the  "subject"  or  "reagent",  or  vice  versa.  In  some  cases 
comparison  of  results  with  those  secured  by  all  the  members  of 
the  class  may  be  called  for. 

Laboratory  Books — Two  records  are  to  be  kept.  In  one 
book  (with  non-detachable  sheets)  records  and  results,  observa- 
tions, measurements,  etc.,  are  to  be  noted  as  soon  as  they  are 
obtained.  This  book  is  to  be  kept  in  a  rough  but  systematic  way. 
It  is  to  be  presented  only  when  called  for.  It  may  contain  any 
notes,  observations,  remarks  or  data  which  are  secured  during  the 
experiment. 

The  Final  Reports  are  to  be  kept  in  a  separate  book,  with 
detachable  sheets  and  in  standard-sized  cover,  with  your  name  on 
the  outside.  This  book  is  to  be  kept  intact  (the  reports  written 
in  ink)  and  is  to  be  presented  at  regular  intervals  for  inspection. 
The  reports  should  be  placed  in  the  order  in  which  the  experiments 
occur  in  the  laboratory  Manual.  Into  this  book  are  to  be  trans- 
ferred the  results  previously  noted  down  in  the  rough  data  book 
described  above.  These  reports  are  to  be  prepared  outside  of 
the  regular  laboratory  hours. 

The  report  of  each  experiment  should  cover  the  following 
points : 

1.  A  statement  of  the  purpose  of  the  experiment,  or  of  the 
PROBLEM  which  it  is  designed  to  solve,  or  the  question  for  which 
the  answer  is  being  sought. 

2.  Description  of  the  apparatus  employed.  Use  the  appro- 
priate technical  names. 

3.  An  account  of  the  procedure  or  method  followed  in  the 
experiment.     When  detailed  account  of  procedure  or  method  is 

27 


28  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

provided  in  the  Manual,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  avoid  purely  me- 
chanical copying  by  referring  to  the  appropriate  sections  in  the 
Manual. 

4.  Plain  STATEMENT  OF  RESULTS,  in  form  of  table,  chart,  map, 
list,  data,  reports,  etc.  Always  keep  these  data  free  from  other 
material  and  on  separate  sheets  whenever  possible. 

5.  Interpretation — free  discussion  of  the  results,  in  the 
light  of  information  obtained  from  personal  observation  and 
reflection,  or  from  the  lectirres  and  the  literature.  What  are 
your  FINAL  CONCLUSIONS?  What  general  laws  can  be  formu- 
lated? What  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  or  the  answer  to  the 
question?  etc. 

6.  A  brief  statement  of  the  references  and  authorities  con- 
sulted. Give  the  title  of  the  book,  the  name  of  the  author,  and 
the  chapters,  topics  or  pages  read,  if  these  are  called  for  by  the 
instructor. 

Special  References  to  be  read  at  this  point.     Read  any  two. 

I — Seashore — Elementary  Experiments  in  Psychology — 
Introduction. 

2 — Judd — Laboratory  Manual  of  Psychology — Introduc- 
tion. 

3 — Myers — Experimental  Psychology — Chap.  I. 

4 — Titchener — Student's  Qualitative  Manual — Introduc- 
tion. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  29 

Introductory  Experiments. 
A— INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES. 

Measure  all  the  members  of  the  class  in  the  following  traits  or 
abilities.  Plat  the  measurements  for  each  trait  in  the  form  of  a 
curve  of  distribution.  Consult  the  instructor  for  directions  as 
to  units  and  scales  for  these  curves. 

Find  the  average,  median  and  mode  for  each  trait.  Which  of 
these  measures  would  afford  the  most  representative  statement  of 
the  character  of  the  group?  Having  selected  this  most  representa- 
tive measure,  compute  the  variability  (mean  variation)  of  the 
group  from  the  central  tendency. 

Do  individuals  differ  in  the  same  way  or  to  the  same  degree  in 
all  of  these  traits?  Do  you  find  any  indications  of  bi-modality  or 
of  skewed  distribution  in  the  curves?  What  is  the  significance  of 
these  findings? 

What  does  it  mean  to  be  a  normal  individual?  An  abnormal 
individual?  How  would  these  conditions  be  represented  on  your 
curves  of  distribution? 

LIST  OF  TRAITS  TO  BE  MEASURED. 

I — Time  required  for  first  solution  of  a  mechanical  puzzle. 

2 — Steadiness,  as  indicated  by  the  number  of  contacts  in  one 
minute  with  the  motor-board  apparatus. 

3 — Cephalic  index — found  by  dividing  the  width  of  the  head, 
at  its  widest  part,  by  the  length  of  the  head,  in  its  longest  line  from 
the  forehead  directly  backward.     Use  anthropometric  calipers. 

4 — Time  required  to  make  25  words  of  the  letters  foimd  in 
"psychiatry". 

5 — Time  required  for  some  standard  form  of  the  "cancella- 
tion test". 

6 — Strength  of  grip  as  registered  by  the  dynamometer. 

7 — Time  required  for  first  completion  of  the  "form-board" 
test;  let  the  reagent  first  examine  the  board  visually;  he  is  then  to 
perform  the  test  when  blind-folded.  Record  time  with  stop 
watch. 

8 — Time  required  to  repeat  the  alphabet  backward  correctly. 

9 — Suggestibility,  as  measured  by  the  size-weight  illusion,  one 
trial. 

10 — Time  required  for  a  standard  "sorting  test". 


30  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

B— INDIVIDUAL  UNIFORMITIES. 

Inspect  your  fellow  students  as  they  work  at  their  desks  or  in 
the  library.  How  many  are  writing  with  the  right  hand  and 
how  many  with  the  left  hand?    What  conclusions  are  suggested? 

Ask  your  partner  to  tell  you  the  first  word  that  comes  to  his 
mind  when  you  pronounce  one  of  the  following  "stimulus  words " — 
table,  rose,  color,  flower,  man.  Do  the  same  experiment  on  several 
other  members  of  the  class,  using  the  same  "stimulus  word"  in 
each  case.     What  are  the  results? 

Draw  up  a  list  of  traits  or  respects  in  which  people  will  tend 
to  resemble  each  other.  On  what  factors  will  the  degree  of  re- 
semblance probably  depend?  Draw  up  a  similar  list  of  traits 
in  which  people  will  tend  to  differ  from  each  other  more  or  less 
strikingly.  On  what  factors  will  the  amount  of  difference  probably 
depend? 


Psychology  of  General  Efficiency. 

DISCUSSION. 
We  have  seen  that  individuals  show  certain  resemblances  and 
certain  differences,  both  with  respect  to  performance  and  with 
respect  to  the  constitution  and  behavior  of  their  consciousness. 
The  first  problems  of  experimental  psychology  may  then  center 
about  these  facts.  We  may  ask  such  questions,  or  set  such  prob- 
lems, as  the  following,  and  endeavor  to  answer  or  solve  them  by 
the  application  of  experimental  methods. 

I — How  large  are  the  differences  which  different  people 

may  show? 
2 — What  are  the  factors  which  determine  the  direction 

and  the  amount  of  these  differences? 
3 — To  what  degree  and  in  what  ways  are  the  various  traits 
modifiable  by  external  conditions  or  by  internal  atti- 
tudes? 
4 — What  relations  exist  between  differences  in  one  trait 
and  differences  in  other  traits?     How  far  does  poor- 
ness, goodness,  or  other  peculiarity  in  one  trait  in- 
volve similar  standing  in  other  traits? 
5 — How  do  the  various  capacities  fimction  most  efficiently? 
What  is  wrong  when  inefficiency  of  consciousness  or 
of  performance  is  present? 
Many  similar  questions  might  be  asked,  and  the  replies  which  are 
made  to  them  might  go  a  long  way  toward  determining  our  judg- 
ments of  others,  our  reactions  toward  them,  and  our  expectations 
of  reaction  on  their  part  toward  us  or  toward  the  varied  situations 
of  daily  life.     Some  such  problems  will  be  presented  in  the  experi- 
ments to  follow. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  31 

The  Effects  of  Practise. 

It  is  a  familiar  fact  that  practising  any  act  leads  to  greater 
proficiency  in  its  performance.  An  experiment  in  practise  has 
for  its  object  the  determination  of  the  exact  course,  rate  and  condi- 
tions of  improvement.  The  "practise  curve"  is  a  means  of  pic- 
turing the  course  of  improvement  in  a  graphic  manner.  It  is 
similar  in  principle  to  temperature  curves,  curves  of  barometric 
pressure,  wind  velocity,  growth  of  population,  etc.,  used  in  other 
sciences.  The  points  in  the  horizontal  line  represent  the  successive 
trials.  Points  on  the  vertical  axis  represent  the  efficiency  of  the 
trials.  For  this  reason  it  is  convenient  to  plat  the  curves  on  co- 
ordinate paper. 

Certain  essentials  must  be  observed  in  practise  experiments — 

I — The  thing  to  be  practised  should  be  something  unfami- 
liar, for  otherwise  the  first  part  of  the  practise  curve 
is  not  determined. 

2 — The  conditions  shotdd  be  kept  constant  throughout, 
and  the  course  of  performance  thus  kept  free  from  the 
influence  of  outside  and  irrelevant  factors,  or  factors 
which  are  not  under  control. 

3 — All  trials  should  be  recorded,  there  must  be  no  "interim 
practise" — that  is,  practise  between  the  experimental 
trials. 

4 — Note  should  be  made  of  the  introspections  of  the  per- 
former as  he  goes  through  the  trials.  He  should 
report  any  changes  in  method,  anything  observed 
which  might  throw  light  on  the  conditions  of  effi- 
ciency, and  give  detailed  account  of  what  goes  on 
in  the  mind  during  performance. 

5 — The  performer  should  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  records 
he  is  making  until  the  experiment  is  completed.  He 
should  not  be  allowed  to  be  influenced  by  any  ex- 
ternal suggestions. 


32  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  i— PRACTISE  AND  TRANSFER  IN  PERCEPTIONAL 
REACTIONS  (CANCELLATION). 

By  a  perceptional  reaction  is  meant  a  movement  whose  char- 
acter and  speed  are  determined  by  the  accurate  perception  of  some 
feature  of  the  stimulus.  The  movement  itself  must  be  simple  and 
of  an  automatic  kind,  but  the  stimulus  may  be  of  any  kind  or  of 
any  degree  of  complexity.  For  example,  sorting  a  pack  of  cards 
into  four  suits  as  rapidly  as  possible  involves  a  series  of  percep- 
tional reactions.  Convenient  material  for  studying  this  sort  of 
behavior  is  also  afforded  by  printed  matter,  out  of  which  certain 
characters  or  groups  of  characters  are  to  be  cancelled.  This  sort 
of  test  is  known  as  the  "cancellation  test".  It  is  a  much  used 
test  in  experiments  on  fatigue,  practise,  transfer,  interference, 
attention,  perception,  etc.  Special  blanks  have  been  devised 
which  permit  of  great  variety  in  method  and  purpose  of  experi- 
ment. 

Among  the  problems  which  may  be  investigated  by  such  ex- 
periments are  the  following — 

I — To  what  extent  are  perceptional  reactions  susceptible 

to  improvement  by  practise? 
2 — Does  increased  skill  in  one  form  of  perceptional  reaction 
show    itself    in    other    perceptional    reactions?     On 
what  conditions  or  factors  does  the  result  depend? 
3 — How  do  individuals  differ  in  rate  and  amount  of  improve- 
ment by  practise,  and  in  the  effect  of  such  practise  on 
other  perceptional  reactions? 
4 — ^What  are  the  internal  and  external  conditions  which 

determine  skill  in  such  a  performance? 
5 — What    activities    of    daily    life    involve    perceptional 
reactions? 

Procedure — 

1.  A  special  blank  (Woodworth-Wells  form)  is  provided,  con- 
taining 1 68  six-digit  combinations.  Cover  the  blank  with  a  sheet 
of  paper  and  place  it  before  your  subject,  in  a  convenient  position. 
Provide  the  subject  with  a  mediimi-soft  lead  pencil.  At  the 
"Ready,  Go"  signal  the  subject  is  to  begin  at  the  top  of  the  blank, 
and  check  off  all  those  combinations  which  contain  both  the  digits 
2  and,  J.  He  is  to  pass  from  left  to  right,  as  in  reading,  is  to  make 
no  errors,  is  to  continue  without  pause  until  the  blank  is  com- 
pleted, and  is  to  finish  the  test  as  quickly  as  he  can.  Record,  in 
fifth-seconds,  the  time  taken. 

2.  After  this  test,  provide  yourself  with  lo  blanks.  Have 
your  subject  go  through  these  ten  in  succession,  checking  off  this 
time  all  combinations  containing  both  the  digits  8  and  p.  Take  the 
time  for  each  of  the  lo  tests,  and  plat  the  practise  curve  for  these 
ten  trials,  after  the  whole  experiment  is  completed. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  33 

3.  After  these  10  blanks  have  been  marked,  and  the  curve 
of  practise  for  the  perceptional  reaction  thus  secured,  give  him  a 
final  blank,  and  ask  him  again  to  cross  off  all  combinations  con- 
taining both  2  and  j,  as  in  the  first  part  of  the  experiment.  Take 
the  time  required,  and  compare  this  with  the  record  originally 
made  in  the  2-3  test. 

4.  Call  for  introspections  from  the  subject  as  to  the  attitude, 
the  method  used,  changes  in  method,  etc.,  during  the  test. 

Precautions — Let  a  comfortable  pause  intervene  after  each 
blank  so  as  to  avoid  eye  strain,  fatigue,  etc.  See  that  the  sub- 
ject is  not  distracted. 

Conclusions — On  the  basis  of  this  experiment,  what  replies 
are  to  be  made  to  the  preceding  questions?  Give  full  and  detailed 
proof.     What  are  the  chief  sources  of  error  in  such  an  experiment? 

EXPERIMENT  2— PRACTISE  IN  PUZZLE  SOLUTION. 

Still  more  complicated  than  the  simple  perceptional  reactions 
are  such  processes  as  involve  "skill" — processes  in  which  both  the 
stimulus  and  the  movement  change  from  time  to  time,  and  in  which 
the  movement  is  to  be  accommodated  to  or  directed  by  the  change 
or  the  desired  change  in  the  stimulus.  Such  processes  are  to  be 
found  for  example  in  handling  the  "novel  situations"  presented 
by  the  attempt  to  solve  a  mechanical  puzzle.  Here  the  movement 
will  vary  according  to  the  different  positions  which  the  parts  of 
the  puzzle  from  time  to  time  assimie.  And  the  whole  process 
will  be  directed  by  the  desire  to  "change  the  stimulus" — ^that  is, 
to  arrange  the  parts  of  the  puzzle  in  some  definite  position  or 
relation. 

Do  not  forget  that  the  psychological  interest  is  not  so  much  in 
the  puzzle  itself  as  in  the  process  of  solving  it,  and  of  acquiring  com- 
plete mastery  of  the  new  reaction.  Such  questions  as  the  following 
at  once  suggest  themselves  in  this  connection — 

I — Is  the  first  solution  accidental,  partly  understood,  or 

thoroughly  understood  beforehand? 
2 — Do  any  changes  in  method,  variations  in  the  "mode  of 

attack"  occur  during  the  series  of  trials?    What  is 

the  nature  of  such  changes  if  they  occur?    To  what 

degree  are  they  successfiil? 
3 — ^What  part  does  imagination  or  "imagery"    play  in 

such  a  performance? 
4 — Do  individuals  differ  more  in  capacity  (as  shown  by 

their  final  degree  of  skill)   or  in  performance   (as 

shown  by  their  initial  skill)?    What  does  this  mean 

in  daily  life? 


34  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

5 — How  do  individuals  differ  in  their  ability  to  improve? 

6 — ^Are  individual  differences  disclosed  in  such  a  test  as 
this  likely  to  hold  good  of  the  individual  performance 
in  daily  life?    Give  the  reasons  for  your  belief. 

Procedure — Select  a  puzzle  which  is  wholly  unfamiliar  to 
your  subject.  Place  it  before  him  in  a  definite  position,  instructing 
him  as  to  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  puzzle  (whether  it  is  to  be 
taken  apart,  put  together,  or  placed  in  some  definite  relation, 
etc.).  Let  him  then  solve  the  puzzle  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 
take  his  time  with  the  stop  watch.  Leave  him  entirely  to  his 
own  devices,  and  avoid  any  hints  or  suggestions. 

After  each  trial  let  him  write  down,  under  the  number  of  that 
trial,  all  that  he  can  remember  of  the  process  gone  through  during 
the  trial — the  methods  used,  the  different  things  tried,  the  chief 
difficulties,  whether  the  solution  was  accidental  or  planned  and 
"seen  through"  beforehand,  whether  changes  in  method  occur 
from  trial  to  trial,  whether  imagery  played  any  part  in  the  process, 
and  whether  such  imagery  was  helpful  or  detrimental,  in  his 
own  mind. 

Repeat  the  experiment  for trials.     Do  not  allow  the 

subject  to  replace  the  puzzle  in  its  original  position,  after  solution. 
Do  this  yourself,  out  of  his  sight,  and  place  it  before  him,  at  each 
trial,  in  the  original  condition  and  position. 

Plat  the  practise  curve  on  co-ordinate  paper,  laying  off  on  the 
base  line  the  successive  trials,  and  on  the  vertical  line  the  time 
required,  in  seconds  or  in  minutes. 

On  the  basis  of  your  data  what  replies  are  to  be  made  to  the 
questions  suggested  in  the  preceding  discussion  of  the  experiment? 
Give  your  proof  in  full,  by  means  of  figures,  tables,  curves,  etc. 

References — 

Ruger,  The  Psychology  of  Efficiency. 

Royce,  The  Psychology  of  Invention  (Psych.  Rev.  V, 

113-144). 
Lindley,  Article  on  Puzzles  (Am.  Jour,  of  Psychol.). 
Book,  The  Psychology  of  Skill. 
Bair,  The  Practice  Curve. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  35 

Individual  Differences  and  Effects  of  Practise. 

Thinking  is  often  said  to  be  largely  a  matter  of  association  of 
ideas.  The  objects  of  our  experience  are  associated  with  their 
names ;  ideas  are  associated  with  other  ideas ;  tasks  and  situations 
are  associated  with  ideas  which  will  handle  or  solve  them  effective- 
ly. In  these  processes  three  chief  stages  may  be  distinguished, 
which  are  illustrated  in  the  following  experiments.  The  three 
stages  show  interesting  differences,  both  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  character  of  the  processes,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  indi- 
vidual differences  in  the  efficiency  of  their  performance. 

EXPERIMENT  3— FIRST  STAGE. 

Association  of  Ideas  and  Words  with  Simple  Objects  of  Experience. 
This  process  is  illustrated  by  the  color-naming  test.  The 
experiment  is  designed  to  measure  the  speed  with  which  the  name 
or  idea  can  be  brought  to  consciousness  upon  the  sight  of  the 
object,  which  is,  in  this  case,  a  color.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
experiment  the  test  measures  the  familiarity  with  colors  and  the 
accuracy  of  color  discrimination  as  well  as  the  absolute  quickness 
of  the  thought  process  involved.  As  the  experiment  progresses 
the  test  measures  the  ability  of  the  individual  to  improve  by  prac- 
tise, his  degree  of  interference,  as  shown  by  the  tendency  of  a  pre- 
ceding idea  to  inhibit  or  interfere  with  the  correct  perception  and 
expression  of  the  next  impression.  It  also  measures  the  regularity 
of  performance  and  the  susceptibility  to  fatigue. 

Method — The  card  provided  in  the  laboratory  contains  100 
colored  squares.  Name  them  through  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  while  your  partner  takes 
your  time  with  the  stop  watch.  Read  every  line  from  left  to 
right.  Then  rest  while  you  take  your  partner's  time  for  the  first 
reading  in  the  same  way.  Continue  this  process  until  each  has 
made  15  trials  and  thus  has  15  measures  of  association  speed, 
taken  in  succession.  Plat  these  15  trials  on  co-ordinate  paper, 
so  as  to  secure  a  practise  curve  for  the  experiment.  Ask  the  in- 
structor what  units  to  use  in  platting  these  curves.  Include  both 
the  tables  and  the  curves  in  your  note  book. 

EXPERIMENT  4— SECOND  STAGE. 

Association  of  One  Idea  with  Another  Specific  Idea. 
This  process  is  illustrated  by  the  test  of  naming  opposites. 
To  think  of  the  exact  answer  to  a  question,  the  precise  address  of 
a  friend,  the  exact  shade  of  meaning  of  a  word,  delicate  distinc- 
tions of  connotation  in  the  use  of  language,  all  involve  a  process 
of  controlled  association,  a  process  in  which,  from  many  ideas 
which  the  stimulus  calls  up,  the  one  appropriate  idea  is  recognized, 


36  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

selected  and  expressed  while  the  false  or  inadequate  ideas  are 
repressed  or  inhibited.  Hence  this  test  measures  the  ability  of 
the  individual  to  select  the  appropriate  response  from  the  host 
of  ideas  which  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  stimulus  word.  It  is 
thus  an  index  of  speed,  accuracy,  linguistic  feeling  and  of  the  ability 
to  suppress  useless  or  irrelevant  ideas.  At  the  same  time  it  shows 
the  ability  of  the  individual  to  improve  by  practise  as  well  as  indi- 
cates the  regularity  of  his  performance. 

Method — The  cards  provided  contain  a  list  of  50  words,  each 
card  presenting  the  same  words,  but  in  a  new  order.  The  test 
is  to  go  down  the  list,  naming,  as  quickly  as  possible,  the  opposite 
of  each  word  (antonym),  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  in  the 
list.  Let  your  partner  take  your  time  with  a  stop  watch.  Your 
partner  should  follow  the  list  carefully  as  you  proceed,  and  should 
say  "  No  "  if  you  give  an  unsatisfactory  response.  Never  pass  to  a 
new  word  until  the  correct  opposite  of  the  preceding  word  has 
been  given. 

Rest  a  moment  while  you  take  your  partner's  time  for  the  test, 
then  repeat  it  yourself  as  before.  Continue  this  process  until 
you  have  made  15  trials  of  the  test,  using  a  new  card  at  each 
trial.  Then  plat  your  practise  curve  for  the  experiment,  and  in- 
clude it  in  your  report,  along  with  the  table. 

EXPERIMENT  5— THIRD  STAGE. 

Association  of  an  Idea  With  a  Specific  Task  or  Situation. 

A  still  more  complex  stage  in  association  is  found  when  a 
specific  task  or  situation  calls  for  an  appropriate  and  immediate 
response.  The  ideas  themselves  are  not  given.  The  individual 
must  provide  his  own  ideas  or  images,  juggle  them  in  his  own  way, 
but  he  must  come  out  of  the  process  with  the  right  response.  It 
is  thus  a  case  of  evolving  an  idea  to  meet  an  unexpected  situation. 
The  question  is — "How  quickly  can  the  individual  manipulate 
his  mental  processes  so  as  to  call  up  the  right  idea  in  his  conscious- 
ness and  set  up  movements  of  artioilation  which  will  express  to 
an  onlooker  the  result  of  his  thinking?" 

Method — Without  the  aid  of  any  graphic  device,  add  17 
mentally  to  each  of  the  nimibers  on  the  card  provided  for  the 
experiment.  Let  your  partner  check  up  your  answers  with  the  aid 
of  the  key  card.  Always  give  the  right  answer  before  proceeding 
to  the  next  number.  Repeat  this  test  15  times,  alternating  with 
your  partner.  Use  a  new  card  each  time,  the  numbers  being  the 
same,  but  occurring  in  different  orders  on  the  various  cards. 
Then  plat  your  practise  curve  for  the  experiment,  and  include  it 
with  your  table  in  your  note  book.  As  before,  ask  the  instructor 
what  imits  to  use  in  platting  these  curves. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  37 

EXPERIMENT  6. 

Individual  Differences. 

Using  a  different  color  for  each  individual,  plat,  on  the  same 
chart,  the  practise  curves  of  4  different  people — yourself,  your 
partner,  and  two  other  partners  in  your  own  laboratory  section. 
Use  a  different  chart  for  each  of  the  three  tests  just  described. 
You  will  thus  have  three  charts,  each  bearing  four  curves.  On 
the  basis  of  these  curves  make  out  the  answers  to  the  following 
questions  and  point  out  the  proof  for  the  correctness  of  your 
answer  to  each  question.  Answer  these  questions  for  each  of  the 
three  tests. 

I — How  do  individuals  differ  in  the  beginning  of  such  an  exper- 
iment in  association?  What  is  the  ratio  of  the  best  to  the 
poorest? 

2 — How  do  individuals  differ  at  the  end  of  the  experiment? 
Does  practise  decrease  individual  di_fferences,  thus  making  people 
more  alike  in  the  end  than  they  were  in  the  beginning,  or  does 
practise  accentuate  these  differences,  so  that  people  are  more  differ- 
ent after  practise  than  they  were  before?  (It  is  easy  to  make 
false  assumptions  or  to  commit  various  sorts  of  fallacies  in  answer- 
ing this  question.) 

3 — How  do  the  four  individuals  differ  in  their  rate  of  improve- 
ment— in  the  degree  to  which  they  can  improve  by  practise,  and 
in  the  rate  of  this  improvement? 

4- — Is  improvement  in  such  performances  regular  or  uniform? 

5 — Are  there  plateaus  in  these  practise  curves?  If  so,  what  do 
they  probably  mean?     If  not,  why  do  they  not  appear? 

6 — Are  people  who  are  quick  also  likely  to  be  regular?  Do  you 
find  any  sort  of  correlation  between  speed  and  regularity? 

7 — Do  you  find  any  relation  between  speed  and  ability  to 
improve  by  practise? 

8 — Make  an  intensive  study  of  this  experiment,  writing  it  up 
carefully  and  completely.     Add  any  other  points  noted. 


38  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  7. 
Qualitative  Differences. 

Average  the  results  of  4  subjects  for  each  of  the  three  tests; 
thus  getting  a  typical  practise  curve  for  each  kind  of  performance. 
Plat  these  three  curves,  in  different  colors,  on  co-ordinate  paper, 
using  identical  units. 

On  the  basis  of  your  curves  make  out  the  answers  to  the 
following. 

I — Do  the  three  stages  of  association  yield  to  practise  with 
equal  rapidity?  If  not,  in  which  is  the  improvement  most  rapid? 
How  do  you  explain  these  facts? 

2 — Do  the  three  stages  yield  to  practise  with  the  same  uni- 
formity? If  not,  what  differences  are  disclosed?  How  can  they 
be  accounted  for  psychologically? 

3 — Do  the  people  who  make  the  quickest  records  in  one  of 
these  tests  also  show  up  well  in  the  others? 

4 — Are  the  people  who  are  uniform  and  regular  in  one  test  also 
uniform  and  regular  in  the  others?  How  about  the  irregular 
ones? 

5 — ^What  psychological  explanations  can  you  suggest  for  the 
relations  shown  under  points  3  and  4? 

6 — Make  an  intensive  study  of  this  topic,  writing  it  up  care- 
fully and  completely.  Add  any  other  points  or  comments  which 
may  have  occurred  to  you  as  having  psychological  interest. 

References  for  experiments  3  to  7. 

Whipple — Manual    of    Mental    and    Physical   Tests, 

Chap.  IX. 
Whitley — Tests  for  Individual  Differences,  pp.  98-136. 
Wells — Practice  Effects  in  Free  Association — ^Amer. 

Jour,  of  Psychol,  January,  191 1. 
HoUingworth — Individual  Differences  as  Affected  by 

Practise — Psych.  Rev.,  Jan.,   1914. 
Brown — Habit  Interference  in  Sorting  Cards. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  39 

Fatigue. 

DISCUSSION. 

After  an  unfamiliar  act  has  been  perfected,  by  means  of  prac- 
tise, performance  in  it  may  still  show  certain  striking  variations 
in  speed,  accuracy,  regularity  or  quantity.  These  may  be  due  to 
any  one  or  more  of  a  great  variety  of  factors,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  fatigue,  lack  of  incentive,  sickness,  daily  rhythms  and 
other  forms  of  periodicity,  conditions  of  the  weather,  etc.  The 
most  familiar  of  these  factors,  and  perhaps  one  which,  in 
its  general  character,  includes  many  of  the  other  factors,  is 
fatigue.  Fatigue  has  both  its  internal  and  its  external  aspects. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  performance,  fatigue  means  diminution 
in  the  capacity  for  work.  From  the  point  of  view  of  conscious- 
ness it  means  a  certain  complex  mental  state  in  which  lack  of 
interest,  ennui,  strain,  soreness  of  muscles,  impleasantness  and 
aversion  may  be  discerned  as  part  factors. 

It  is  of  psychological  interest  to  know  the  cause  and  conditions 
the  course  of  development,  the  meaning  and  function,  the  laws 
and  types  of  fatigue,  and  the  ways  in  which  individuals  may 
differ  in  these  respects.  Among  the  principal  points  of  interest 
may  be  mentioned  the  following — 

I — The  normal  characteristics  of  the  fatigue  curve. 
2 — The  different  forms  or  types  of  fatigue  curves,  and  their 
meaning. 

3 — The  different  kinds  of  fatigue,  and  their  respective  causes. 

4 — Methods  of  relieving  or  avoiding  fatigue. 

5 — Methods  of  detecting  and  measuring  fatigue. 

6 — The  fimction  and  consequence  of  fatigue. 


40  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  8— FATIGUE  IN  THE  TAPPING  TEST. 

The  tapping  test  measures  the  speed  and  endurance  with  which 
unloaded  muscles  can  execute  successive  contractions  of  a  rather 
narrow  range.  The  subject  holds  in  his  hand  a  metal  stylus,  and 
rests  the  arm  on  the  table,  so  that  the  forearm  constitutes  a  lever, 
with  the  elbow  as  fulcrum.  The  stylus  thus  held  may  be  made  to 
strike  a  metal  plate,  and  the  two  are  so  connected  with  an  electric 
counter  that  each  contact  is  recorded.  The  factor  of  accuracy  is 
thus  eliminated,  and  the  performance  may  be  measured  in  terms 
of  speed  and  rate  (by  speed  is  meant  the  total  time,  and  by  rate 
is  meant  the  distribution  of  the  separate  strokes  within  this  total 
time). 

When  the  apparatus  is  in  readiness,  instruct  your  subject  to 
start  at  your  signal  and  to  tap  as  rapidly  as  possible,  without  any 
rest  pauses,  until  the  muscles  of  the  arm  are  fatigued  and  will  ex- 
ecute no  more  contractions. 

I — With  the  stop  watch  record  the  time  in  seconds  and  fifth- 
seconds  required  for  each  group  of  25  or  of  50  taps  (according  to 
the  directions  of  the  instructor)  until  the  subject  is  fatigued. 

2 — Plat  these  records  on  co-ordinate  paper,  so  as  to  show  the 
curve  of  work. 

3 — Compare  this  curve  with  other  curves  being  made  in  the 
laboratory. 

4 — On  the  basis  of  these  data  what  may  be  said  on  the  points 
of  interest  mentioned  in  preceding  paragraphs? 

5 — What  additional  information  is  yielded  by  the  introspec- 
tions of  your  subject? 

References — 

M  osso — Fatigue . 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 
Offner — Mental  Fatigue. 

Hollingworth — Variations   in   Efficiency    During   the 
Working  Day — Psych.  Rev.,  1914. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  41 

Efficiency  of  Single  Sensori-Motor  Arcs. 

DISCUSSION. 

Reaction  Times — By  a  reaction  time  is  meant  the  interval 
elapsing  between  the  reception  of  a  given  stimulus  and  the  pro- 
duction of  a  specified  response.  The  character  of  the  stimulus 
may  vary  according  to  the  purpose  of  the  experiment — thus  it 
may  be  a  sound,  a  flash  of  light,  an  electric  shock,  a  touch,  or  the 
exposure  of  a  colored  disc,  a  word,  an  object,  a  statement  of  rela- 
tion, a  logical  proposition,  etc.  The  response  may  also  be 
varied  and  complicated  in  a  variety  of  ways,  according  to  the 
purpose  of  the  experiment.  Thus  it  may  consist  in  pressing  a 
telegraph  key,  moving  a  lever,  squeezing  a  bulb,  uttering  a  word, 
etc. 

The  total  reaction  time  includes  the  following  processes — 

I — The  latent  time  of  the  sense  organ  involved. 

2 — Passage  of  the  sensory  impulse  to  the  brain  or  spinal 

center. 
3 — Communication  between  sensory  and  motor  centers. 
4 — Passage  of  motor  impulse  to  the  muscle. 
5 — Latent  time  of  the  muscle  or  muscle  group. 

Taken  as  a  whole  this  reaction  time  is  a  measure  of  the  abil- 
ity (speed,  accuracy,  uniformity,  rate  of  adaptation)  of  the 
nervous  system  to  respond  to  the  situation  in  question,  in  a  defi- 
nite way.  The  reaction  may  be  a  simple  reflex,  or  it  may  or 
may  not  involve  perception,  discrimination,  association,  choice, 
judgment,  decision,  etc.,  depending  on  the  conditions  of  the  ex- 
periment, the  nature  of  the  task  set,  the  attitude  of  the  subject,  etc. 

The  method  of  measurement  is  simple  in  principle,  al- 
though the  apparatus,  which  is  designed  to  facilitate  precise  meas- 
urement, may  in  some  cases  be  very  elaborate.  In  principle — the 
application  of  the  stimulus  sets  going  some  mechanism  which  is 
stopped  by  the  occurrence  of  the  response.  By  appropriate  means 
the  interval  between  these  two  events  is  thus  easily  recorded, 
and  this  interval  constitutes  the  "reaction  time' 


>> 


Each  experiment  will  require  a  considerable  number  of 
measurements,  because  different  trials  will  result  in  slightly  differ- 
ent reaction  times.  These  times  will  vary  about  an  average  or 
norm.  This  will  make  possible  the  following  significant  meas- 
ures— 

I — The  average  time  (or  the  median  or  mode). 

2 — The  uniformity  (variability  around  the  average,  etc.). 

3 — The  degree  and  rate  of  adaptation  (practise,  etc.). 


42  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Introspections  should  always  be  recorded  and  frequently  asked 
for  during  the  course  of  an  experiment.  The  subject  should  be 
asked  to  tell  what  went  on  in  his  mind,  what  was  in  his  conscious- 
ness, etc.,  just  before,  during,  and  immediately  after  the  reaction. 
These  introspections,  when  paralleled  by  the  measurements  them- 
selves, may  often  throw  considerable  light  on  the  causes  of  differ- 
ences, changes,  characteristics,  etc.,  of  the  reaction  times. 

Types  of  reaction  experiments.  Depending  on  the  condi- 
tions of  the  experiment,  the  character  of  the  stimulus  and  of  the 
response,  and  the  nature  of  the  reaction  process  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  subject,  we  may  distinguish  three  principal  forms  of 
reaction-situations. 

I — The  Simple  Reaction. 

2 — The  Discrimination  Reaction. 

3 — The  Discrimination-and-Choice  Reaction. 


EXPERIMENT  9— THE  SIMPLE  REACTION. 

After  having  been  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  chronoscope 
used  in  the  laboratory,  determine  your  partner's  reaction  times 
under  the  following  typical  situations.  Make  —  trials  in  each 
experiment.  In  each  experiment  compute  the  average  and  the 
variability,  and  examine  into  the  tendency  to  adaptation.  Observe 
the  standard  precautions  with  respect  to  ready  signal,  interval 
between  ready  signal  and  stimulus,  elimination  of  distractions, 
of  suggestions,  of  expectations,  etc. 

(a)  Simple  reaction  to  a  visual  stimulus. 

(b)  Simple  reaction  to  an  auditory  stimulus. 

(c)  Simple  reaction  to  a  tactile  stimulus. 

What  differences  in  speed  and  in  uniformity  do  the  modalities 
of  sight,  sound  and  touch  disclose?  How  are  these  differences  to 
be  explained?  Do  all  the  members  of  the  class  agree  in  these 
respects? 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  43 

EXPERIMENT  lo— EXTERNAL  DETERMINANTS  OF  REACTION 

TIME. 

Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  quality,  intensity,  ex- 
tensity,  duration,  and  abruptness  of  the  stimulus.  This  type  of 
influence  may  be  well  illustrated  by  an  experiment  on  the  influence 
of  the  intensity  of  a  sound  on  the  speed  of  the  reaction. 

Using  the  sound-hammer  provided  in  the  laboratory,  take 
the  natural  reactions  ( —  trials)  to  each  of  three  intensities  of 
sound  stimulus,  letting  the  three  intensities  occur  in  a  random 
order. 

a — How  does  intensity  influence  the  average  reaction  time? 
b — How  does  it  influence  the  variability? 
c — Is  the  change  in  time  proportionate  to  the  difference  in 
the  intensity  of  the  stimuli?     How  can  you  tell? 

d — How  are  these  results  to  be  explained? 


EXPERIMENT    ii— INTERNAL   DETERMINANTS   OF   REACTION 

TIME. 

Among  these  may  be  mentioned  age,  sex,  practise,  attitude, 
interest  and  attention,  fatigue,  drugs,  expectation,  etc.  This 
type  of  influence  may  be  illustrated  by  an  experiment  on  the  differ- 
ences between  the  so-called  sensorial  and  muscular  reactions. 

Using  the  sound  stimulus,  take  one  series  in  which  the  subject 
is  instructed  to  direct  his  attention  toward  the  stimulus,  and  an- 
other series  in  which  he  is  instructed  to  direct  his  attention  toward 
the  movement  to  be  made.  The  first  type  is  called  sensorial,  the 
second  muscular.  Riui  the  two  series  simultaneously,  giving  now 
a  sensorial,  now  a  muscular  group,  with  lo  reactions  in  a  group, 
and groups  in  the  series.  Compute  averages  and  variabil- 
ities. 

a — What  differences  are  fovmd  between  the  two  types? 
b — How  are  these  differences  to  be  explained? 
c — To  which  type  does  your  subject's  "natural"  reaction 
most  closely  approximate?     What  does  this  indicate? 


SUMMARY  OF  EXTERNAL  AND  INTERNAL  CONDITIONS. 

Enumerate  all  the  factors  in  each  group,  in  the  order  of  their 
importance,  placing  the  most  important  first.  In  connection  with 
each  factor,  state  the  nature  of  its  influence  on  the  simple  reaction 
time,  as  determined  from  experiment,  reading,  general  observa- 
tion or  inference. 


44  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  12— THE  DISCRIMINATION  REACTION. 

The  discrimination  situation  is  produced  by  presenting  a  num- 
ber of  stimuli,  alternately,  and  instructing  the  subject  to  react 
only  to  a  specified  stimulus,  making  no  reaction  whatever  when 
the  stimulus  presented  is  not  the  one  specified.  Determine,  as 
an  illustrative  experiment  in  this  class  of  reactions,  the  time  re- 
quired to  discriminate  between  a  red  and  a  blue  stimulus  card. 
Present  the  cards  in  a  chance  order,  as  in  previous  experiments. 
Require  the  subject  to  react  whenever  the  red  stimulus  card  ap- 
pears, and  to  do  so  as  quickly  as  possible.  Whenever  the  blue 
card  appears  he  is  to  make  no  response  whatever.  Make  —  trials 
with  each  stimulus,  and  compute  the  average  and  M.  V. 

a — How  do  these  measures  compare  with  the  simple  reac- 
tion times? 

b — How  do  you  account  for  such  differences  as  are  found? 
Ask  the  subject  to  report  what  took  place  in  his  mind 
under  the  different  circumstances.  Does  his  testi- 
mony (introspection)  throw  any  light  on  the  differ- 
ences found? 

c — Secure  the  simple  reaction  time  and  also  the  discrimina- 
tion reaction  time  for  all  the  members  of  the  class. 
Are  those  whose  simple  reactions  are  quick  also  quick 
in  this  discrimination  experiment?  How  are  the 
facts  to  be  explained? 

d — Do  you  observe  any  tendency  on  the  part  of  this  dis- 
crimination reaction  to  become  reflex  as  the  experi- 
ment proceeds?  How  could  this  happen,  if  it  should 
be  found  in  any  case? 


EXPERIMENT  13— DISCRIMINATION  AND  CHOICE  REACTIONS. 

Again  present  the  blue  and  the  red  cards,  each  —  times,  in 
chance  order.  Instruct  your  subject  to  react  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble, with  the  right  hand  when  the  red  disc  appears,  and  with  the 
left  hand  when  the  blue  appears.  Caution  him  against  making 
false  reactions,  such  as  reacting  with  the  wrong  hand,  and  record 
all  such  reactions  if  he  should  make  any. 

a — How  do  the  times  and  their  variabilities  compare  with 
those  of  the  simple,  and  those  of  the  discrimination 
reactions? 

b — Does  the  introspection  of  your  subject  throw  any  light 
on  the  reasons  for  the  characteristics  of  these  compli- 
cated reaction  times? 

0 — Does  this  type  of  reaction  tend  to  become  reflex? 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  45 

References  on  Reaction  Times — 

I — Froeberg — Influence  of  Intensity  on  Reaction  Time. 
2 — Jastrow — Time  Relations  of  Mental  Phenomena. 
3 — Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 
4 — Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 
5 — Titchener — Text-book     of     Psychology.     Experi- 
mental Psychology. 
6 — Cattell — Psychological  Researches,  Chap.  I. 
7 — Scripture — The  New  Psychology. 

EXPERIMENT  14— FACILITATION  AND  INHIBITION. 
(Reenforcement,  Dynamogeny,  Distraction,  Interference) 

At  this  point,  if  time  allowed,  a  series  of  interesting  experiments 
might  be  performed,  which  should  be  designed  to  demonstrate 
the  way  in  which  simultaneous  mental  or  motor  processes  influence 
each  other.  The  student  may  at  once  think  of  cases  in  daily 
life  in  which  simultaneous  processes,  in  consciousness  or  in  per- 
formance, mutually  aid  each  other,  or  in  which  one  process  goes 
on  more  efficiently  because  of  the  activity  of  the  other.  He  may 
also  think  of  situations  in  which  the  result  may  not  be  facilitation 
but  inhibition  —  both  processes  are  interfered  with,  or  the  one 
suffers  because  of  the  presence  of  the  other. 

It  would  be  of  psychological  interest  to  know  under  what  cir- 
cumstances the  result  of  simultaneous  processes  is  facilitation, 
and  under  what  conditions  it  is  interference  instead. 

Class  room  demonstrations  of  such  situations  may  be  made, 
and  the  student  may  then  write  up  an  account  of  what  took  place 
during  the  demonstration,  reporting  it  after  the  manner  of  an 
individual  experiment. 

References — 

Fere — Sensation  et  Mouvement. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 
Todd — Reaction  to  Multiple  Stimuli. 
McDougall — Physiological  Psychology. 
Sherrington — The  Integrative  Action  of  the  Nervous 
System. 

EXPERIMENT  15— EXPRESSIVE  MOVEMENTS. 

Experiments  on  these  topics  do  not  admit  of  very  satisfactory 
performance  under  general  laboratory  conditions.  Conditions 
are  hard  to  control,  distractions  likely  to  occur,  and  the  necessary 
apparatus  and  technique  may  be  complicated  and  delicate. 

Class  room  demonstrations  of  some  of  the  principal  facts 
may  be  given,  and  the  student  may  then  write  up  an  account  of 


46  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

what  took  place  before  him,  after  the  manner  of  an  individual 
experiment.     The  demonstration  may  include — 

I — Observation  of  one  or  more  individuals  in  typical  emo- 
tional, attentive,  reflective  and  impulsive  attitudes. 
(Anger,  Surprise,  Embarrassment,  Doubt,  etc.)  De- 
scribe the  expressive  movements,  postures,  etc., 
and  distinguish  between  the  relevant  and  the  irre- 
levant. Causes  and  function  of  these  expressive 
reactions.     Individual  differences  and  types. 

2 — Precise  measurement  of  changes  in  some  organic  pro- 
cess (breathing,  heart  beat,  volume,  perspiration, 
etc.)  under  typical  conditions. 

3 — Experiments,  by  Methods  of  Impression,  on  judgments 
of  character  and  capacity,  as  expressed  by  physiog- 
nomy, facial  expression,  pose,  etc. 

References — 

Mantegazza — Physiognomy. 

Darwin — Expression  of  Emotions  in  Men  and  Animals. 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  (Qualitative). 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap,  on  Emotion. 

Physiognomy  and  Expression. 

DISCUSSION. 

An  important  factor  in  daily  life  is  to  be  found  in  our  constant 
attempts  to  "interpret"  facial  expression,  gesture,  bodily  attitude 
and  pose,  inflection,  and  various  other  incidental  aspects  of  ex- 
ternal behavior,  such  as  blushing,  hesitation,  awkwardness,  mis- 
speaking, etc.  These  external  processes  are  felt  to  be  in  some 
more  or  less  definite  way  correlated  with  states  of  consciousness — 
intentions,  feelings,  moods,  temperaments,  etc.  In  its  extreme 
form  this  idea  may  develop  into  the  absurdities  of  phrenology, 
clairvoyance,  palmistry,  etc. 

In  its  more  reasonable  and  sensible  form  the  idea  is  known  in 
psychology  as  the  doctrine  of  "expressive  movements".  States 
of  consciousness  are  accompanied  by  characteristic  reactions  on  the 
part  of  the  muscles  of  the  body.  Indeed  the  consciousness  of 
the  moment  may  be  largely  constituted  by  the  awareness  of  these 
reactions.  At  any  rate,  much  of  the  significance  of  a  stimulus 
or  situation,  as  it  comes  to  consciousness,  depends  on  the  reflex 
or  instinctive  reactions  which  are  set  up  in  response  to  it. 

Quite  apart  from  the  genuine  and  necessary  correlation  between 
these  expressive  movements  and  the  transient  or  permanent  char- 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  47 

acter  of  the  consciousness  which  accompanies,  precedes  or  follows 
them,  it  is  of  psychological  interest  to  know  what  correlations 
people  believe  to  exist  between  the  two.  We  "size  up"  people  on 
short  acquaintance,  and  we  do  this  chiefly  on  the  basis  of  momen- 
tary expressive  movements  or  on  the  basis  of  more  or  less  per- 
manent facial  sets,  attitudes,  or  typical  features. 

The  purpose  of  the  present  experiment  is  to  determine  to  what 
extent  people  agree  on  such  "judgments  of  character",  to  what 
degree  different  judgments  of  the  same  individual  are  consistent, 
and  on  what  external  and  internal  factors  these  judgments  depend. 


EXPERIMENT  i6.— JUDGMENTS  OF  CHARACTER. 

A  series  of  photographs  or  portraits  is  provided.  These  are 
to  be  arranged  in  an  "order  of  merit"  according  to  the  degree  to 
which  they  suggest  such  traits  as  beauty,  himior,  honesty,  kind- 
ness, generosity,  intelligence,  etc.,  or  their  opposites.  The  in- 
structor will  give  specific  directions  for  your  own  share  in  the  ex- 
periment. From  him  you  will  also  learn  methods  of  handling 
your  data  so  as  to  secure  the  information  sought.  The  experi- 
ment will  include  the  following  points — 

I — Arrangement  for  a  given  trait  by  the  same  observer  on 
two  different  occasions,  and  the  determination  of  the 
"personal  consistency"  coefficient. 

2 — Comparison  of  the  records  by  this  individual  with  the 
average  judgments  of  the  class  as  a  whole,  and  the 
determination  of  the  "judicial  capacity"  of  the  in- 
dividual in  question. 

3 — Determination  of  the  relation  between  the  personal 
consistency  coefficient  and  the  index  of  judicial  capac- 
ity. Is  the  individual  who  is  most  sure  of  his  own 
mind  also  the  best  judge  of  the  opinions  of  others? 

4 — Examination  of  the  final  average  order  and  of  the  in- 
dividual orders  for  the  purpose  of  determining  what 
features  of  the  faces  are  judged  to  be  significant  of 
the  particular  traits. 

5 — Determination  of  the  influence  of  the  attitude  of  the 
observer  on  the  outcome  of  his  judgment. 

References — 

Mantegazza — Physiognomy. 

Norsworthy — Judgments  of  Character. 

HoUingworth   and    Strong — Influence   of   Form   and 

Category  on  Outcome  of  Judgments  of  Character. 
Darwin — Expression  of  Emotions  in  Men  and  Animals. 
Scott — The  Psychology  of  Public  Speaking. 


48  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  17— EXPRESSIONS  OF  MOOD  AND  EMOTION. 

Discussion. 

The  purpose  of  this  experiment  is  to  study  the  facial  expression 
of  the  various  moods  and  emotions  and  the  judgments  we  pass 
when  we  attempt  to  interpret  the  play  of  facial  expression.  The 
following  questions  may  be  noted  as  suggestive.  Other  questions 
will  come  to  your  mind  as  the  experiment  proceeds. 

a — What  are  the  typical  facial  expressions  of  the  various 
moods  and  emotions?  How  much  variation  is  shown 
from  person  to  person  or  from  moment  to  moment, 
situation  to  situation  in  the  case  of  the  same  individ- 
ual? 

b — How  easily  and  quickly  can  we  recognize  the  individual's 
mood  or  emotion  on  the  basis  of  the  expression  of 
his  features? 

c — Are  some  moods  or  emotions  easier  to  identify  and  recog- 
nize than  others?     If  so,  what  are  the  reasons  for  this? 

d — Are  some  moods  or  emotions  easily  confused  with  others, 
on  the  basis  of  their  physical  expressions?  If  so, 
which  are  these  and  what  are  the  relatioiis,  if  any, 
between  them? 

e — How  consistent  is  a  given  person  in  judgment  of  this 
sort,  on  different  occasions? 

f — How  closely  do  people  agree  in  their  judgments  of  mood 
and  emotion,  as  based  on  facial  expression? 

g — ^At  what  age  do  children  seem  able  to  recognize  the 
various  emotional  expressions?  Do  they  recognize 
some  of  them  earlier  than  they  do  others? 

Procedure — You  will  be  provided  with  a  set  of  24  photo- 
graphs of  the  same  person  in  different  moods  or  emotional  atti- 
tudes.* 

I — State  in  each  case  the  emotion  or  mood  represented  or 
being  experienced  by  the  individual  at  the  moment. 
Record  your  judgment  alongside  the  nimiber  of  the 
photograph  in  your  note  book. 
2 — Some  time  later  (as  the  next  week)  repeat  this  process, 
without  referring  to  the  original  records.  Take  a  new 
and  independent  attitude  toward  the  photographs, 
just  as  if  you  had  never  seen  them  before. 
3 — Compare  the  two  trials  now,  endeavoring  to  answer  the 
questions  suggested  above,  and  others  that  have  oc- 
curred to  you. 

*  A  convenient  set  will  be  found  in  the  paper  by  Feleky,  in  the  Psycho, 
logical  Review,  January,  19 14.  Sets  of  the  photographs  may  be  secured  from 
Prof.  E.  L.  Thomdike,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  49 

4 — Bring  together,  under  each  number,  all  the  judgments 
of  the  various  members  of  the  class,  noting  how  closely 
they  agree,  and  what  the  points  of  agreement  and 
disagreement  are. 

5 — Suggest  some  new  experiment  that  might  be  made  with 
this  material  or  in  this  field.  Describe  the  experi- 
ment in  detail,  stating  its  purpose  and  its  method  of 
procedure. 

References — 

Darwin — Expression  of  Emotion  in  Men  and  Animals. 

Mantegazza — Physiognomy  and  Expression. 

James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap,  on  Emotion. 

EXPERIMENT  i8— FEELING  AND  ORGANIC  PROCESSES. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  not  only  the  phenomena  of  attention 
but  many  things  in  the  psychology  of  feeling  as  well  may  be  closely 
correlated  with  organic  changes  and  processes — such  as  modifica- 
tions in  muscular  contractions,  in  heart  beat,  volume  of  the  blood 
vessels,  rate  and  intensity  of  breathing,  etc.  Especially  in  connec- 
tion with  the  psychology  of  attention  it  would  be  interesting  to 
know  whether  the  attention  wave  and  the  fluctuations  found  in 
various  conditions  of  perception  can  be  correlated  with  any  of 
these  factors.  It  must  be  said  that  the  various  investigators 
are  not  yet  agreed  on  the  matter.  This  experiment  will  conse- 
quently be  moving  in  a  rather  unsettled  field. 

Procedure. — Familiarize  yourself,  by  examination  and  pre- 
liminary practise,  with  the  apparatus  used  for  measuring  respira- 
tion and  heart  action.  Investigate  the  following  problems  as  fully 
as  the  results  seem  to  warrant. 

The  influence  of  muscular  effort  on  respiration  (dynamo- 
meter). 

The  influence  of  mental  work  on  the  breathing  curve. 

The  influence  of  disagreeable  stimtdi  (try  various  modali- 
ties). 

The  influence  of  agreeable  stimuli. 

The  experiences  of  shock,  surprise,  amusement,  pain. 

In  these  connections  always  secure  a  normal  tracing  at  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  experiment.  Observe  the  rate  of  inhala- 
tion and  exhalation,  the  duration  of  the  process,  the  depth  of 
each,  and  the  general  level  of  the  curve.  Any  or  all  four  of  these 
things  may  be  foimd  to  be  important  things  to  compare. 

What  is  the  typical  modification  produced  by  each  of  the  ex- 
periences studied? 


50  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Are  the  various  sorts  of  consciousness  really  accompanied  by 
characteristic  bodily  reactions? 

Include  tables  and  curves  in  your  reports. 

References — 

Ladd    and    Woodworth — Physiological    Psychology, 

Chap.  VIII. 
Titchener — Qualitative  Manuals,  Chap.  VII. 
Kulpe — Outlines  of  Psychology — 225-276;  320-331. 
Titchener — The  Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention. 
Wundt — Outlines  of  Psychology  (Feeling  and  Emo- 
tion). 
James — Principles  of  Psychology  (Emotion). 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  51 

Attention. 

Each  of  the  following  experiments  is  designed  to  illustrate  one 
of  the  principal  results  or  laws  of  attention.  After  solving  the 
special  problems  presented  in  a  given  experiment,  generalize  your 
results  into  a  statement  which  will  express  a  fundamental  law  or 
result  of  attention.  When  you  have  completed  all  the  experiments 
on  attention,  bring  together  these  various  laws,  in  the  form  of  a 
synopsis  or  table. 

EXPERIMENT  19— ATTENTION  AND  CLEARNESS. 

A — Secure  a  set  of  puzzle  pictures  and  try  to  find  the  concealed 
figures  in  each.  Note  that  when  once  found  they  force  themselves 
persistently  upon  you,  although,  on  first  observing  the  pictures, 
the  special  outlines  were  not  even  perceived  as  units  or  as  forms. 
The  outline  of  the  hidden  figure  now  seems  more  distinct  than  the 
other  lines  of  the  picture,  and  the  "sense "  of  the  picture  as  a  whole 
recedes  into  the  background. 

Does  the  change  seem  to  be  merely  one  of  "intensity",  or  is 
"clearness"  or  "vividness"  perhaps  an  unique  and  independent 
attribute  or  quality  of  the  visual  impression? 

B — Fixate  a  letter  in  the  center  of  a  printed  page.  How  many 
adjacent  letters  can  you  clearly  see  while  fixating  this  central 
point? 

While  carefully  maintaining  this  same  point  of  fixation,  can 
you  direct  your  attention  to  the  peripheral  parts  of  the  field  of 
vision,  thus  clearly  recognizing  letters  which  lie  at  the  edges  of 
the  page,  or  at  some  distance  above  or  below  the  fixation  point? 
As  you  shift  your  attention  from  point  to  point,  what  changes  do 
you  observe  in  the  clearness  of  the  various  parts  of  the  printed 
page?  (To  perform  this  experiment  great  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  change  the  point  of  visual  fixation,  since  in  natural  vision  we  are 
always  inclined  to  direct  our  line  of  vision  to  the  point  to  which 
our  attention  is  directed.) 

Are  the  fixation  point  of  the  field  of  vision  and  the  fixation 
point  of  attention  identical,  or  can  they  by  practise  be  separated, 
and  the  attention  directed  to  the  point  in  indirect  vision? 

References — See  last  page  of  this  section  on  "Attention". 


52  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  20— ATTENTION  AND  INTENSITY. 

A — Strike  a  low  tone  upon  the  monochord.  The  resulting 
sound  will  seem  to  be  a  single  tone,  with  definite  pitch,  loudness 
(intensity)  and  timbre  or  quality.  While  the  string  is  vibrating, 
touch  it  with  a  feather  at  a  point  one-half,  one-third  or  one-fourth 
the  way  along  the  string,  from  either  end.  Observe  the  rise  of 
a  fainter  tone,  which  has  a  higher  pitch  than  that  produced  by 
the  vibration  of  the  wire  as  a  whole.     This  is  an  overtone. 

Now  strike  the  string  again,  as  before.  Observe  that  these 
various  overtones  can  be  heard  along  with  the  main  or  fundamen- 
tal tone.  Single  out  by  attention  some  one  of  the  overtones — does 
it  seem  to  change  in  loudness?  Now  attend  to  the  fundamental — 
is  its  intensity  also  increased  by  attention? 

B — Cite  other  illustrations  of  a  simpler  sort,  which  indicate 
the  influence  of  attention  on  the  intensity  of  an  impression. 

C — Are  you  still  convinced  that  intensity  and  clearness  are 
identical  (or  different  attributes,  as  the  case  may  have  been  decided 
in  Experiment  i)?  If  you  decide  that  they  are  different,  what 
evidence  can  you  offer? 

References — See  last  page  of  this  section. 


EXPERIMENT  21— ATTENTION  AND  DURATION. 

Using  the  stereoscope,  place  before  one  eye  a  plain  red  field 
and  before  the  other  eye  a  plain  green  field.  Hold  the  stereoscope 
steadily  before  the  eyes  and  note  the  colors  that  appear,  and  any 
changes  in  the  order  in  which  they  occur.  Note  that  the  colors  do 
not  mix  or  fuse,  since  they  are  on  different  eyes,  nor  do  they  both 
appear  at  once  unless  the  slide  is- out  of  focus.  In  this  case  the 
two  colors  are  seen  side  by  side.  Adjust  the  stereoscope  so  that 
the  two  squares  coincide.  The  colors  will  now  alternate,  the  single 
combined  square  seeming  now  red,  now  green.  This  effect  is 
known  as  "binocular  rivalry".  With  the  stereoscope  adjusted 
in  this  way,  work  out  the  following  problems — 

A — Can  you  hold  either  of  the  fields  at  will,  so  that  it  shall 
stay  and  not  give  way  to  the  other  field? 

Can  you  prolong  the  appearance  of  one  of  the  fields,  so  that 
it  remains  longer  than  when  you  make  no  attempt  to  control  the 
rate  of  fluctuation?  (Call  out  the  colors  as  they  appear,  so  that 
yotir  partner  can  record  the  duration  of  each  with  the  aid  of  the 
second  hand  of  a  watch.  Or,  if  there  is  time,  record  the  changes 
more  accurately,  with  the  aid  of  a  kymograph  and  time  line.) 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  53 

B — What  is  the  effect,  on  the  persistence  of  one  of  the  fields,  of 
placing  on  it  some  simple  figure,  say,  a  small  square,  drawn  in 
ink  or  pencil?  Does  this  facilitate  your  attempts  to  control  the 
fluctuation  of  the  fields? 

Try  a  still  more  complicated  figure  on  one  of  the  fields.  Can 
you  now  attend  to  this  field  as  long  as  you  please?  Can  you  do  the 
same  with  the  field  which  bears  no  figure? 

What  is  the  effect  of  placing  equally  complicated  figures  on 
each  of  the  fields?     Can  you  attend  to  either  as  long  as  you  please? 

What  further  observations  do  you  make  as  this  experiment 
proceeds? 

C — What  is  the  effect  of  "preparing  the  mind"  beforehand, 
for  one  or  other  of  the  two  fields?  To  determine  this,  proceed 
as  follows. 

Use  the  plain  fields  again.  Cover  both  with  a  sheet  of  black 
paper  held  by  your  partner.  Before  removing  the  screen,  make 
up  your  mind  which  color  you  will  see.  Does  this  "determina- 
tion" have  any  effect  on  the  relative  frequency  with  which  you 
see  one  or  the  other  of  the  colors  at  the  removal  of  the  screen? 
Proceed  as  follows,  in  order  to  control  your  experiment  adequately, 
and  in  order  to  avoid  false  and  hasty  inference. 

I — Make  20  trials,  in  which  the  fields  are  concealed  by  the 
black  screen,  but  in  which  no  thought  of  either  color 
precedes  the  removal  of  the  screen.  Which  color  ap- 
pears at  each  trial?  What  is  the  total  number  for 
each  color?  (Make  10  of  these  trials  first,  and  post- 
pone the  remaining  10  until  the  series  described  in  the 
following  paragraph  has  been  finished.) 

2 — Select  one  of  the  colors.  Now  make  20  trials  in  which 
this  color  is  determined  on  in  advance  of  the  removal 
of  the  screen.  Note  the  number  of  times  the  chosen 
color  really  appears  first. 

3 — Now  finish  the  control  series,  making  the  remaining  10 
trials  in  which  no  color  is  determined  upon  in  advance. 

Compare  the  results  of  the  two  experiments.  What  are  your 
conclusions?  Can  you  determine,  by  preliminary  attention,  the 
order  of  appearance  of  the  two  fields?  Secure  the  results  of  5 
other  students.  What  individual  differences  do  you  find  in  this 
respect? 

Cite  cases  in  daily  life  in  which  this  experimental  situation 
is  illustrated.  What  practical  consequences  are  suggested  in  this 
connection? 

References — See  the  last  page  of  this  section. 


54  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  22— THE  SPAN  OF  ATTENTION. 

Within  a  given  sense-field,  as  that  of  the  visual  field,  for  ex- 
ample, not  all  impressions  are  equally  clear  at  a  given  moment. 
We  may  be  vaguely  aware  of  a  large  nimiber  of  them,  but  at  the 
same  time  only  a  small  ntmaber  are  clearly  and  distinctly  perceived. 
The  earlier  experiment  on  attention  and  indirect  vision  has  illus- 
trated this  familiar  fact.  We  may  now  ask — "What  are  the  limi- 
tations of  this  central  field  of  clearness?  "  How  many  impressions 
may  be  clearly  grasped  at  a  single  effort  or  direction  of  attention? 
For  the  present  we  may  well  limit  ourselves  to  simple  and  fairly 
meaningless  impressions,  of  such  a  sort  that  each  will  constitute 
in  itself  an  independent  unit.  When  we  come  to  study  percep- 
tion, we  shall  find  that  the  character  of  the  impression,  its  meaning- 
ful or  meaningless  character,  the  ease  with  which  it  combines 
with  other  similar  elements  to  form  higher  and  more  complex 
units,  the  familiarity  of  the  material,  etc.,  all  assist  in  determining 
the  clearness  of  the  given  unit,  and  the  range  of  attention  of  such 
units. 


A — ^With  the  tachistoscope  find  how  many  dots  (2  mm.  square 
and  4  mm.  apart)  can  be  correctly  perceived  at  a  single  exposure. 
You  will  be  provided  with  a  series  of  10  to  12  cards,  each  bearing 
a  nimiber  of  dots,  the  nvimbers  ranging  from  i  to  10  or  12.  (Ob- 
serve carefully  the  oral  directions  concerning  apparatus.) 

Expose  these  cards  (being  careful  to  follow  a  chance  order), 
asking  your  observer  to  state  the  nimiber  of  dots  on  each  card. 
Record  replies  in  an  appropriately  planned  table.  After  the 
series  has  been  presented  once,  repeat  the  process,  until  each  card 
has  appeared  5  or  10  times. 

Now  compute  your  results,  and  find  the  number  of  dots  which 
is  the  largest  that  can  be  correctly  perceived  at  least  4  times  out 
of  5.  Nimibers  smaller  than  this  should  have  been  almost  always 
perceived  correctly,  and  nimibers  larger  than  this  will  have  been 
shown  to  be  too  large  to  be  included  in  a  single  field  of  clearness, 
or  in  a  single  moment  of  attention.  What  is  yotir  partner's 
"span  of  attention"  as  thus  measured? 

Secure  the  results  of  10  other  students.  What  individual 
differences  are  shown  in  these  records?  Is  there  a  normal  span 
of  attention? 


B — After  having  determined  in  this  way  your  partner's  scope 
of  visual  perception,  arrange  the  number  of  dots  in  several  ways 
and  positions,  including  in  the  series  several  miscellaneous  cards 
bearing  different  numbers  of  dots,  as  control  cards. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  55 

Try  each  of  the  various  arrangements  5  times,  in  the  same  way 
as  before.  Does  the  arrangement  of  the  dots  have  any  influence 
on  the  ease  or  certainty  with  which  they  are  perceived?  Which 
arrangement  is  the  most  favorable,  in  this  case?  What  reasons 
can  you  suggest  for  this?  Ask  questions  of  your  partner  concern- 
ing the  different  arrangements,  and  the  way  in  which  they  were 
perceived,  thus  endeavoring  to  learn  from  the  introspective  report, 
if  possible,  some  of  the  reasons  for  the  favorableness  or  unfavor- 
ableness  of  the  various  arrangements. 

Take  some  number  of  dots  which,  in  the  original  experiment, 
was  too  large  for  the  scope  of  visual  attention.  Can  you,  by  arrang- 
ing this  number  of  units  in  a  more  favorable  way,  enable  your 
partner  to  perceive  even  this  large  number  correctly? 

C — ^What  conclusions  do  you  draw  concerning  the  span  of 
attention?  What  determines  it,  in  part?  On  what  internal  and 
external  conditions  does  it  in  part  depend?  Do  these  conditions 
entirely  explain  it? 

References — See  last  page  of  this  section. 


EXPERIMENT    23— FLUCTUATIONS    IN    CLEARNESS. 

(The  Attention  Wave.) 

Various  optical  illusions  and  geometric  figures  undergo,  when 
observed  continuously,  intermittent  changes  in  character,  direc- 
tion or  structure  from  moment  to  moment.  These  changes  are 
often  ascribed  to  fluctuations  of  attention  and  to  the  periodic  or 
wave  character  of  attention.  (It  must  be  said,  however,  that  many 
of  these  fluctuations  may  be  shown  to  be  dependent  on  eye  move- 
ment, changes  in  fixation,  processes  taking  place  in  the  sense 
organ,  etc.)  Auditory  and  tactile  impressions  display  the  same 
periodic  character,  and  here  perhaps  the  role  of  attention  is  even 
more  complete.  All  very  faint  (minimal)  stimuli  show  these 
periodicities — fluctuations  which  are  for  the  most  part  beyond 
voluntary  control.  Many  other  phenomena  show  that  changes 
in  clearness  (adjustments  of  attention)  cannot  occur  instanta- 
neously, but  require  a  certain  time,  show  a  certain  waxing  and  wan- 
ing effect  which  we  may  conveniently  term  the  "wave"  of  atten- 
tion. The  purpose  of  this  experiment  is  to  demonstrate  and  meas- 
ure this  attention  wave. 

A — Materials — color  mixer,  Masson  disc,  kymograph,  time 
marker,  headrest,  etc.  When  the  disc  is  rotated,  select  a  gray 
circle  which  is  just  visible.     Note  that  you  cannot  always  see  it, 


56  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

but  that  it  comes  and  goes,  more  or  less  regularly,  alternately 
appearing  and  fading. 

Following  the  directions  of  the  instructor,  secure  a  graphic 
record  of  these  waves  of  appearance  and  disappearance,  on  the 
smoked  drum  of  the  kymograph.  The  experiment  may  require 
care  and  patience,  and  considerable  practise  and  skill  in  manipu- 
lating the  apparatus. 

Measure  the  duration  of  lo  or  20  of  the  periods  of  appearance, 
and  the  same  number  of  the  periods  of  disappearance.  What  is 
the  average  and  the  variability  in  each  case?  What  are  the 
shortest  and  longest  times  found? 

Calculate  the  ratio  of  the  periods  of  appearance  to  the  periods 
of  disappearance.  Compare  these  various  records  in  the  case  of 
5  students. 

Why  do  we  choose  this  minimal  stimulus  difference  instead  of 
looking  for  fluctuations  in  more  intense  stimuli  which  would 
naturally  hold  the  attention  more  easily? 

What  evidence  can  you  suggest  as  to  whether  or  not  these 
fluctuations  are  really  changes  in  attention  or,  e.g.,  merely  indica- 
tions of  some  periodic  process  in  the  sense  organ? 

What  are  the  chief  sources  of  error  in  such  an  experiment? 

B — Select  one  of  the  geometrical  figures  provided  in  the  labora- 
tory for  illustrating  such  fluctuations.  Note  the  changes  in 
apperception  which  occur  from  moment  to  moment.  Measure 
these  by  the  same  method  used  in  the  above  experiment.  Make 
the  same  computations  and  solve  the  same  problems  as  in  the 
above  experiment. 

What  similarities  and  differences  do  you  find  between  the  two 
cases? 

References — See  last  page  of  this  section. 

EXPERIMENT    24— ATTENTION    AND    TIME    OF    PERCEPTION. 

Materials — the  bell  metronome,  arranged  with  dial  for  a 
form  of  the  "complication  experiment".  The  instructor  will 
give  directions  for  the  method  of  experiment.  (Or  see  Titchener — 
Feeling  and  Attention.) 

A — Set  the  metronome  pendulum  for  a  fairly  rapid  beat  (144 
or  152  strokes  per  minute)  and  set  the  bell  for  sounding  at  every 
sixth  stroke. 

What  time  relation  does  the  ring  of  the  bell  bear  to  the  corre- 
sponding stroke  of  the  pendulimi?  Do  the  two  fall  together,  or 
does  the  ring  come  before  or  after  the  stroke? 

B — Set  the  bell  for  sounding  at  every  second  stroke.  How 
are  the  ring  and  its  stroke  now  heard?     Is  it  possible  by  shifting 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  5  7 

^he  attention  (now  to  the  bell,  now  to  the  stroke)  to  shift    the 
apparent  time  relation  of  the  two  simultaneous  impressions? 

C — Use  the  cardboard  dial,  bearing  colors  or  numbers.  The 
pendulum  now  bears  a  pointer,  which  passes  along  the  scale  on 
the  dial. 

Direct  your  attention  toward  the  bell  stroke,  thinking  of  it 
beforehand,  and  letting  the  sight  of  the  pendulum  and  its  pointer 
"float"  in  the  background  of  consciousness.  But  when  the  bell 
sounds,  notice  the  position  of  the  pointer  on  the  dial.  Record 
the  number  or  color  at  which  the  bell  stroke  now  seems  to  come. 

Now  direct  your  attention  to  the  pointer,  following  it  with 
the  eye,  and  letting  the  sound  of  the  bell  "float"  in  the  back- 
ground of  consciousness.     At  what  point  does  the  bell  now  ring? 

Can  you  shift  the  apparent  time  of  occurrence  of  the  bell  by 
directing  your  attention  back  and  forth  from  pointer  to  bell? 

What  conclusions  do  you  draw  from  these  experiments?  What 
is  the  effect  of  attention  on  the  time  of  perception  of  impressions? 

The  Laws  and  Results  of  Attention. 

At  this  point  bring  together,  in  tabular  form,  a  statement  of  all 
fundamental  laws  or  results  of  attention,  as  you  have  been  able 
to  derive  them  from  the  experiments  you  have  just  performed. 
There  should  be  at  least  S  to  7  such  general  laws  derivable,  and 
perhaps  more. 

References  on  Attention — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XXV. 
Ladd    and    Woodworth — Physiological    Psychology, 

special  sections. 
Titchener — Text-book    of    Psychology,    Chapter    on 

"Attention". 
Pillsbury — Attention. 
Titchener — Feeling  and  Attention. 
Washburn — The  Animal  Mind,  Chap.  XIII. 
Hollingworth — Principles   of   Appeal   and   Response, 

3  chapters. 
Wundt — ^An  Introduction  to  Psychology. 


68  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Perception. 

DISCUSSION. 

By  perception  we  mean  in  psychology  the  interpretation  of 
stimtili  which  come  to  us  through  one  or  more  of  the  special  organs 
of  sensation.  Sometimes  the  word  perception  is  used  to  indicate 
the  process  of  interpretation,  and  sometimes  the  resvilt.  In  or- 
dinary speech  the  result  of  this  process  is  termed  an  object,  thing, 
person,  situation,  attribute,  etc.,  and  is  indicated  by  a  concrete  or 
abstract  noun.  The  process  by  which  the  interpretation  takes 
place  has  usually  been  so  gradually  perfected  or  so  often  repeated 
that  its  various  steps  have  been  overlooked  in  favor  of  the  final 
outcome,  and  consequently  it  has  become  difficult  if  not  quite 
impossible  to  give  an  introspective  description  of  the  process. 
Indirect  examination  and  experimental  variation  of  the  conditions 
must  then  be  relied  on  if  the  process  itself  is  to  be  brought  clearly 
into  consciousness.  By  such  means  information  concerning  what 
takes  place  in  perception  has  been  secured,  and  is  often  expressed 
in  such  statements  as  the  following — 

I — Perception  always  involves  centrally  aroused  sensations 
(images)  and  memories,  as  well  as  sensations. 

2 — The  restilts  of  previous  experiences  cooperate  in  giving 

the  object  the  character  which  it  possesses. 
3 — The  object  that  is  seen  is  the  one  that  best  serves  to 

explain  all  the  previous  experiences  along  with  the 

present  ones. 
4 — Perception  is  due  to  the  interpretation  of  a  present 

sensation  by  organized  earlier  experiences. 
5 — Which  one  of  several  objects  or  interpretations  shall  be 

suggested  depends  upon  the  laws  of  association. 

Many  experiments  might  be  devised  which  might  serve  to 
bring  to  light  the  various  steps  of  this  process  of  interpretation  or 
perception.  The  following  experiment  on  "the  perception  of 
activity  "  may  be  taken  as  typical. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  59 

EXPERIMENT  25— THE  PERCEPTION  OF  ACTIVITY. 

An  intrinsically  interesting  perception  is  that  of  a  person, 
animal,  machine,  etc.,  in  action.  Much  of  the  success  of  window 
demonstrations,  street  vending,  etc.,  depends  on  this  intrinsic 
interest.  The  "  New  York  Herald  "  has  no  better  advertisement 
than  the  sight  of  its  presses  through  the  windows  on  Broadway. 
A  barber  stropping  his  razor,  a  gang  of  men  unloading  a  piano, 
a  mason  using  his  trowel,  a  lather  slapping  in  the  nails,  anywhere, 
even  in  politics  and  the  White  House,  the  man  in  action  attracts 
interest.  Similarly,  pictures  or  other  representations  of  things 
in  action  are  strongly  attractive.  But  many  attempts  to  portray 
or  represent  action  are  flatly  unsuccessful.  The  attitude  suggested 
is  often  rather  one  of  inaction  and  pose.  The  problem  of  the 
present  experiment  is  to  discover  what  factors  contribute  toward 
the  perception  of  action  or  suggested  activity. 


A — Let  your  partner  sit  with  closed  eyes.  Tell  him  that  you  are 
going  to  read  to  him  a  series  of  phrases,  sentences  or  expressions, 
and  request  him,  after  each  expression,  to  give  you  an  accurate 
oral  description  of  the  visual  picture  which  is  called  up  in  his 
imagination  when  he  tries  to  represent,  in  his  mind's  eye,  the  mean- 
ing of  the  expression.  Note  down  the  chief  points  in  his  descrip- 
tion, paying  particidar  attention  to  the  position  of  the  object  in 
the  picture.     The    following    expressions    are    only    suggestive. 

Think  of  several  new  ones  and  include  them. 

< 

I — "An  athlete  hurdling  a  fence". 

2 — "A  woodman  felling  a  tree". 

3 — "A  pugilist  striking  a  blow". 

4 — "A  brakeman  leaping  to  catch  a  train". 

5 — "A  polevaulter  in  action". 

6 — "An  archer  shooting  at  a  target ". 

7 — "A  rattlesnake  in  the  act  of  striking". 

8 — "A  man  pumping  water". 

9 — "A  blacksmith  shoeing  a  horse". 

10 — "A  broncho  trying  to  unseat  a  cowboy". 

Do  you  make  out  any  common  feature  in  the  attitudes  or  posi- 
tions of  these  various  actors?  If  so,  how  might  this  common 
feature  be  expressed  in  the  form  of  a  law? 

What  evidence  is  there  that  this  feature  is  a  necessary  factor 
in  all  such  perceptions  of  suggested  activity? 


60  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

B — You  will  now  be  provided  with  a  series  of  pictures  of  the 
same  person.  All  the  pictures  are  intended  to  suggest  strenuous 
activity.     Are  they  all  equally  successful? 

If  not,  arrange  them  in  an  "order  of  merit"  with  respect  to 
the  degree  to  which  they  suggest  activity,  placing  at  the  top  of 
the  series  the  picture  which  is  most  successful,  or  which  suggests 
the  greatest  degree  of  activity.  At  the  bottom  of  the  series  place 
the  least  successful  picture,  and  arrange  the  others  in  their  proper 
order  between  these  two  extremes. 

The  pictures  are  numbered  on  the  back.  Indicate  in  your 
record  the  position  assigned,  in  your  own  experiment,  to  each 
picture. 

Secure  the  records  of  lo  other  students  and  calculate  the 
average  position  and  the  variability  in  the  case  of  each  picture. 

You  have  now  secured  an  average  position  for  each  picture. 
Arrange  the  series  in  a  final  order  of  merit  as  determined  by  these 
average  positions. 

Observe  the  M.  V.'s  of  each  of  the  pictures  when  arranged  in 
this  final  order  of  merit.  On  which  of  the  pictures  do  the  lo 
judges  agree  most  closely?  On  which  do  they  disagree  most? 
What  is  the  significance  of  these  facts? 

Do  you  observe  any  features  in  which  the  successful  pictures, 
say  the  best  two  or  three,  differ  from  the  unsuccessful  ones? 

Can  you  make  out  any  general  law  or  principle  which  is  more 
and  more  faithfully  observed  or  approximated  as  one  passes  from 
the  inferior  through  the  mediocre  to  the  superior  pictures? 

If  not,  write  out  a  verbal  description  of  the  typical  posture 
portrayed  in  the  pictures  at  the  top  of  the  list.  Do  the  same  for 
those  at  the  bottom  of  the  list.  In  what  does  the  most  striking 
difference  between  these  two  descriptions  consist? 

Is  this  the  same  feature  made  out  in  the  preceding  section  of 
this  experiment  on  perception? 

How  may  the  principle  or  law  be  best  expressed?  Is  there  any- 
thing paradoxical  or  unexpected  in  this  statement? 

Discuss  the  psychological  processes  which  underlie  this  law. 
What  various  psychological  processes  are  exemplified  in  the  per- 
ception of  suggested  activity? 

Show  in  detail  how  this  experiment  illustrates  the  typical 
process  of  perception. 

References — Chapters  on  Perception  in  the  standard  texts. 
Hollingworth — A    New    Experiment    in    Perception, 
Jour,  of  Phil.,  1 913. 

— Advertising  and  Selling,  Chap.  VI. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  6 1 

EXPERIMENT  26— PERCEPTION  AND  MEANING. 
(Scope  of  Perception.) 

You  have  already  performed  experiments  (in  the  section  on 
Attention) ,  which  demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  scope  of  a  single 
act  of  perception  is  limited  by  the  range  of  attention.  It  was 
there  suggested  that  the  "character"  of  the  material  is  also  an 
important  factor  in  determining  this  scope.  The  present  experi- 
ment is  designed  to  demonstrate  and  measure  the  influence  of 
"meaning"  and  of  "familiarity",  and  to  further  illustrate  the 
factors  and  processes  involved  in  an  act  of  perception.  The 
problem  may  be  stated  in  some  such  words  as,  "To  what  extent  is 
perception  determined  by  the  objective  properties  of  the  stimulus, 
and  to  what  extent  by  processes  taking  place  in  the  mind  of  the 
percipient — expectation,  association,  mental  set,  imagery,  supple- 
mentation, memory,  etc."? 

•  Use  the  tachistoscope  already  employed  in  measuring  the  range 
of  attention.  Using  the  same  methods  as  in  that  experiment, 
satisfy  yourself  as  to  the  correct  replies  to  the  following  questions. 
Proceed  carefully,  using  control  experiments  whenever  these  are 
appropriate.  So  far  as  possible  keep  your  observer  in  ignorance 
of  your  method  and  purpose. 

A — How  many  letters  (5  mm.  square  and  3  mm.  apart)  can 
be  correctly  recognized  at  a  single  exposure,  when  these  letters 
occur  in  random  order,  or  at  least  not  forming  a  word  or  familiar 
combination?     How  do  10  individuals  differ  in  this  respect? 

B — Arrange  similar  letters  so  as  to  form  words  in  the  language 
most  commonly  employed  by  your  observer.  Find  the  largest 
number  of  letters  which  can  now  be  reported  correctly  after  a 
single  exposure?  How  does  this  number  compare  with  that  of  the 
preceding  experiment?  If  there  is  any  difference,  how  is  this 
difference  to  be  explained,  and  what  light  does  this  throw  on  the 
process  of  perception? 

C — Now  try  words  in  two  foreign  languages,  one  of  which  is  more 
familiar  to  your  observer  than  is  the  other.  Determine  the  scope 
of  perception  for  each  language.  How  do  your  results  compare 
with  those  of  the  experiment  on  the  perception  of  meaningless 
combinations?  How  do  they  compare  with  those  of  the  experi- 
ment in  the  commonly  employed  language?  Tabulate  your  re- 
stdts  in  this  order — 


62  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Meaningless  combinations  of  letters — Scope  

Unfamiliar  foreign  language — Scope  

Familiar  foreign  language — Scope  

Mother  tongue,  or  most  familiar. . . — Scope  

What  general  law  or  principle  is  now  disclosed?  How  is  the 
scope  of  perception  influenced  by  the  familiarity  with,  or  by  the 
meaningful  character  of,  the  material? 

D — Now  prepare  slides  for  a  special  experiment,  imder  the 
heading — "Supplementation  and  Correction".  Ask  the  instruc- 
tor for  directions  for  this  experiment,  and  when  your  material  is 
ready,  proceed  at  once  with  the  experiment  without  letting  your 
observer  know  anjrthing  about  the  nature  of  the  material  or  the 
purpose  of  the  experiment. 

Discuss  your  results,  showing  what  light  they  throw  on  the 
process  of  perception.  What  light  do  they  throw  on  the  psychol- 
ogy of  reading? 

References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  223-325. 
Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  287-290. 
Pillsbury — Attention,  pp.  64-69. 
Huey — Physiology  and  Psychology  of  Reading. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  63 

Visual  Space  Perception. 

EXPERIMENT    27— CO-ORDINATION    OF    VISION    AND    TOUCH. 

A — In  the  center  of  a  sheet  of  co-ordinate  paper  make  a  filled-in 
circle  of  2  mm.  diameter.  Place  the  sheet  in  the  center  of  the 
table,  immediately  before  your  partner.  With  pencil  in  hand, 
let  your  partner  strike  at  the  circle  at  intervals  of  5  seconds, 
each  time  bringing  the  hand  back  at  once  to  the  edge  of  the  table 
in  order  to  be  ready  for  another  trial.  In  this  way  make  10 
trials,  each  time  trying  to  strike  the  center  of  the  circle.  Number 
the  trials  as  they  are  made.  Measure  the  error  of  each  trial,  and 
plat  the  successive  errors  so  as  to  form  a  practise  curve. 

B — Prepare  a  second  circle  on  a  fresh  sheet  of  paper.  This 
time  observe  the  target  through  a  prism  of  10  or  20  degrees  angle, 
and  attempt  to  touch  the  center  by  the  same  quick  movement  of 
the  pencil  hand  as  before.  Make  at  least  20  trials  at  5-second 
intervals,  returning  the  hand  at  once  to  the  edge  of  the  table 
after  each  trial.  Do  not  make  groping  movements,  but  strike 
at  the  circle  with  a  sharp  thrust.  If  after  20  trials  the  subject  has 
not  developed  accuracy  sufficient  to  hit  the  target,  continue  the 
trials  until  such  proficiency  is  present.  Number  the  trials  as 
before,  and  plat  the  practise  curve  as  a  continuation  of  that  secured 
from  Experiment  A. 

C — Now  remove  the  prism,  make  a  new  target  sheet  and  repeat 
Experiment  A.  Make  again  10  trials,  and  plat  the  errors  as  a 
further  continuation  of  the  practise  curve. 

General  Instructions — Always  use  the  right  eye.  In 
platting  your  curve,  let  errors  to  the  right  of  the  target  be  repre- 
sented by  distance  above  the  base  line,  and  errors  to  the  left  by 
distance  below  the  base  line.  Consult  the  instructor  concerning 
units  of  measurement  to  be  used  in  drawing  the  curves. 

In  the  light  of  the  results  secured  from  this  experiment  as 
a  whole  discuss  the  co-ordination  of  vision  and  touch.  Do  you 
think  such  co-ordination  is  innate?  If  so,  why?  If  not,  by  what 
process  does  it  seem  to  be  acquired?  What  about  its  stability 
after  it  is  once  acquired?  What  are  the  chief  means,  processes  or 
aids  utilized  in  the  acquisition  or  modification  of  such  co-ordina- 
tions? Can  you  mention  a  similar  co-ordination  between  vision 
and  hearing?  Do  individuals  dififer  in  the  accuracy  of  the  visual- 
tactual  co-ordination?  Do  they  differ  with  respect  to  its  ease  of 
modification  or  formation?  If  such  individual  differences  are 
present,  how  may  they  perhaps  be  accounted  for? 

References — 

Titchener — Text-book,  pp.  303-339. 
Judd — Psychology,  pp.  131-172. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth,  pp.  461-469. 


64  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  28— STEREOSCOPIC  PERCEPTION 

With  the  truncated  pyramid,  stereoscope,  and  appropriate 
slides,  work  out  for  yourself  the  principles  involved  in  the  per- 
ception of  depth  in  binocular  vision. 

This  experiment  will  have  been  already  discussed  in  the  class 
room.  Demonstrate  to  your  own  satisfaction  the  principles 
developed  in  the  class  discussion.  Make  drawings  illustrating  the 
various  points  there  presented,  relying  for  suggestions  and  assist- 
ance on  your  notes  and  on  the  outlines,  manuals  or  references 
provided  in  the  laboratory. 

Classify  the  slides  under  the  four  headings  representing  the 
stages  in  binocular  vision.     These  headings  are — 

I — Images  indistinguishable — fusion,  single  flat  object. 
2 — Distinguishable  but  consistent — fusion,  composite  object. 
3 — Distinguishable  but  inconsistent — binocular  rivalry. 
4 — Consistent  on  supposition — fusion,  solid  object,  third 
dimension. 

References — 

Titchener — Text-book   of    Psychology,    pp.    306-326. 

Students  Manual  (Qualitative),  pp.  137-144. 

Instructors  Manual  (Qualitative),  pp.  257-295. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

413-427- 
Judd — Psychology,  pp.  159-165. 
McKendrick  and  Snodgrass — Physiology  of   Senses, 

pp.  175-187. 
LeConte — Sight . 
Jastrow — Stereoscopic  Vision. 

EXPERIMENT  29— OPTICAL  ILLUSIONS. 

Examine  carefully  the  illusion  cards  in  Bradley's  "Pseudop- 
tics",  and  determine  as  far  as  possible  the  principle  of  visual  per- 
ception on  which  each  illusion  is  based. 

Find  illustrations  of  the  principal  types  of  optical  illusions  dis- 
cussed in  the  class  room.  So  far  as  possible  classify  all  these 
illusion  cards  under  the  various  headings  there  proposed. 

Select  a  typical  illusion  for  each  principle  or  type  and  include 
it  in  your  note  book,  along  with  a  statement  of  the  principle. 

Consult  one  or  more  of  the  following  references  before  making 
your  final  write-up  of  the  experiments. 

References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  293-307. 
Titchener— Text  Book  of  Psychology,  pp.  330-338- 

Students  Manual  (Qualitative),  pp.  1 51-170. 
Ladd    and    Woodworth— Physiological    Psychology, 

PP-  435-456. 
Witmer — ^Analytical  Psychology. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  65 

Space  Perception — Tactual. 

EXPERIMENT  30— LOCAL  SIGN. 

Touch  yourself  with  the  same  object  (pencil,  pen,  blunt  stick) 
in  several  places,  such  as  palm,  knuckles,  nails,  wrist,  elbow,  fore- 
arm, forehead,  cheek,  lips,  meatus  of  ear,  eyelids,  chin,  and  analyze 
out  as  far  as  you  can  the  particular  quality  of  sensation  by  which 
you  recognize  the  place  touched.  Do  all  the  touches  feel  alike? 
Use  adjectives  descriptive  of  such  differences  as  you  may  find. 
How  are  you  enabled  to  recognize  a  touch  in  one  locality  and  dis- 
criminate it  from  similar  contacts  in  other  regions?  This  quality 
of  the  sensation  is  known  as  its  "local  sign".  Of  what  various 
factors  may  it  consist? 

References — 

Titchener — Text  Book  of  Psychology,  pp.   303-304, 

335-339- 
Judd— Psychology,  pp.  137-144. 

Kulpe — Outlines  of  Psychology,  pp.  343-351. 

Ladd    and    Woodworth — Physiological    Psychology, 

pp.  380-391-. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  238-239. 
Witmer — Analytical  Psychology,  pp.  110-113. 

EXPERIMENT  31— ACCURACY  OF  LOCALIZATION  OF  TOUCHES. 

On  a  blank  page  in  your  note  book  make  an  accurate  drawing 
of  the  outline  of  your  partner's  hand  and  wrist.  Let  the  subject 
close  his  eyes  and  rest  the  hand  on  the  table,  palm  down.  Select 
any  point  on  the  back  of  hand,  wrist  or  finger,  and  indicate  it  by 
a  cross  (X)  on  your  drawing.  Touch  the  point  lightly  with  the 
point  of  the  rubber  pencil,  and  require  the  subject  to  touch  the 
same  point  with  another  pencil  immediately  afterwards.  Indi- 
cate this  point  of  localization  by  a  dot  on  your  drawings,  measuring 
the  distance  accurately  in  millimeters  and  being  careful  to  observe 
the  direction  from  the  original  touch.  Make  five  trials  on  each 
of  the  following  regions — wrist,  hand,  finger  tips.  Compute  the 
average  error  for  each  region.  Do  the  figures  suggest  any  general 
law?     Is  the  direction  of  error  constant? 


66  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Rhythm. 

EXPERIMENT  32— THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RHYTHM. 

A  discussion  of  the  experimental  psychology  of  rhythm  may 
be  found  in  Titchener,  Experimental  Psychology,  Qualitative, 
Student's  Manual.  Further  references  on  the  descriptive  and 
theoretical  features  of  rhythm  are  to  be  foimd  at  the  end  of  this 
section. 

Taking  Titchener's  Manual  as  a  guide,  perform  the  typical 
experiments  suggested  there,  making  such  modifications  and 
selections  as  are  suggested  by  the  instructor. 

Before  performing  the  experiments  read  carefvilly  the  series 
of  suggestive  questions  to  be  found  below.  Plan  your  experiments 
so  as  to  throw  light  on  the  questions  suggested  here,  and  bear  them 
in  mind  when  making  your  introspections. 

Experiments  on  rhythm  are  easily  influenced  by  expectation, 
suggestion  and  prejudice.  Therefore  the  student  is  advised  not 
to  consult  the  descriptive  and  theoretical  references  until  his  own 
experiments  have  been  completed  and  recorded. 

Questions  Suggested  for  Experiments  on  Rhythm. 

I — How  rapid  or  slow  may  the  series  of  clicks  be  in  order  for 
subjective  accentuation  still  to  be  present? 

2 — What  is  the  most  favorable  rate?  Does  this  differ  with 
individuals?     How  great  differences  are  found? 

3 — Do  the  range  and  favorable  rate  vary  with  the  intensity 
of  the  separate  clicks? 

4 — How  long  must  the  series  continue,  before  subjective  ac- 
centuation appears?  In  other  words,  what  is  the  reaction  time 
of  the  rhjrthm  impression? 

5 — Does  this  reaction  time  vary  with  individuals?  Does  it 
vary  with  the  rate?  Does  it  vary  with  the  intensity  of  the 
clicks? 

6 — ^Are  there  any  indications  that  some  people  are  more  rhyth- 
mically minded  than  others — that  some  people  get  rhythmical 
impressions  more  easily  and  more  quickly  than  others? 

7 — Does  the  subjective  rhythm  persist,  after  it  has  once  begun, 
or  does  it  vary  periodically  or  otherwise?  If  it  varies,  on  what 
factors  does  the  variation  seem  to  depend? 

8 — Does  the  rhythm  affect  the  time  relations  of  the  clicks, 
or  their  intensity,  or  their  duration,  or  more  than  one  of 
these? 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  67 

9 — Do  people  have  natural  preferences  for  one  or  other  rhythm 
grouping? 

10 — What  is  the  relative  ease  of  securing  the  various 
groupings? 

II — Does  the  rate  have  any  influence  on  this  matter?  Does 
the  intensity  of  the  clicks?     If  so,  point  out  in  detail. 

1 2 — Do  the  different  rates  and  groupings  produce  characteris- 
tically different  feelings,  emotions,  or  associations? 

13 — Is  there  any  evidence  of  involuntary  motor  accompani- 
ments or  organic  changes  (such  as  respiration)  during  the  percep- 
tion of  the  rhythm? 

14 — ^When  complex  rh5rthmical  groups  are  formed,  are  there 
any  evidences  of  subordinate  degrees  of  accentuation  within  the 
larger  groups?  If  so,  does  this  accentuation  affect  the  intensity 
or  the  duration  or  the  intervals? 

15 — ^Where  are  the  accents  most  likely  to  occur  in  these  com- 
plex rhythmical  groups — in  the  middle,  at  the  beginning,  or  at  the 
end? 

16 — How  does  rhythm  in  music  differ  from  rhythm  in  these 
qualitatively  similar  sound  impressions? 

17 — Is  there  such  a  thing  as  a  visual  rhythm?  If  not,  how  do 
you  account  for  the  rhythmical  impression  produced  by  beams  of  a 
vaulted  ceiling,  the  rows  of  capitals  on  a  fagade,  etc. 

18 — ^What  are  the  characteristics  of  the  consciousness  of 
rhythm  in  the  case  of  subjective  accentuation? 

19 — What  is  rhythm — is  it  perhaps  a  perception,  a  feeling,  an 
emotion,  etc?     Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

20 — Suggest  further  experiments  on  rhythm  that  might  have 
psychological  interest. 

References  on  Rhythm — 

Titchener — Experimental      Psychology      (Qualitative 

Manuals) . 
Bolton — Rhythm  (Amer.  Jour,  of  Psychol.). 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 
Gordon — Aesthetics . 

Brown — Time  in  English  Verse  Rhythm. 
Lipsky — Rhythm  in  Prose. 
Miner — Motor,  Visual  and  Applied  Rhythms. 
Baldwin — Dictionary  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology. 


68  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Association. 

EXPERIMENT  33— THE  TRAIN  OF  IDEAS— REVERIE. 

The  classical  illustration  of  one  form  of  association  is  the 
*' train  of  ideas".  "A  consciousness  is  set  up  and  allowed  to  work 
itself  out,  idea  following  idea  along  the  line  of  least  mental  resist- 
ance, until  the  'stream'  of  thought  runs  dry."  The  experimenter 
starts  the  subject  off  by  pronouncing  a  few  words,  or  by  showing 
him  some  picture,  object,  etc.  With  this  as  a  starting  point  the 
subject  allows  his  mind  to  range  freely  where  it  will  until  the 
train  of  thought  dies  out.  He  then  immediately  goes  through  it 
again  orally  in  outline,  so  as  to  catch  everything  before  it  is  for- 
gotten. The  outline  is  jotted  down  by  the  experimenter.  The 
subject  then  goes  through  the  reverie  carefully,  noting  details. 
He  also  examines  it  to  trace  connections  between  the  different 
parts  or  elements  or  members  of  the  chain.  Connections  will  be 
found  between  various  successive  ideas,  suggesting  that  each  idea 
was  called  up  by  a  preceding  idea.  It  may  happen  that  the  ap- 
parent cause  is  not  the  immediately  preceding  idea,  but  one  further 
back  in  the  chain. 

Draw  a  diagram  of  the  train  of  thought,  indicating  by  lines 
the  connections  between  ideas.  What  sort  of  a  diagram  do  you 
thus  get?  What  light  does  such  an  experiment  throw  on  the 
psychological  process  involved  in  reverie  or  random  thinking? 
Do  similar  principles  probably  hold  in  the  case  of  more  controlled 
or  deliberate  thinking?  Think  of  such  cases  as  "deciding  what 
to  give  a  friend  for  Xmas ",  "deciding  where  to  spend  a  vacation", 
"deciding  what  to  order  for  luncheon",  etc. 

As  the  conditions  of  this  experiment  are  somewhat  artifiddal 
it  is  well  to  catch  oneself  in  the  midst  of  some  spontaneous 
reverie  or  train  of  thought,  and  analyze  this  in  the  same  way  as 
above. 

References — 

Titchener — Qualitative    Manuals,    Chap.    XH.     See 
especially  the  Instructor's  Manual. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  69 

EXPERIMENT  34— FREE  ASSOCIATION. 

Association  is  said  to  be  "free"  when  it  is  not  directed  to 
any  predetermined  end  but  is  allowed  to  run  on  just  as  it  happens. 
It  is  said  to  be  "controlled"  when  the  ideas  to  be  recalled  have  to 
meet  certain  requirements.  An  association  may  be  rigidly  con- 
trolled— as  when  there  is  only  one  idea  which  will  satisfy  the  re- 
quirements— as  for  example  in "3 5-1 9 equals?".  OTitmay beloosely 
controlled,  when  any  one  of  a  class  of  ideas  will  satisfy  the  require- 
ments— as  in  "Give  some  number  larger  than  45".  We  may  say 
that  in  controlled  association  the  mind  is  set  in  a  given  way, 
whereas  in  free  association  there  is  no  set  of  mind  present.  In 
case,  however,  it  should  introspectively  appear  that  in  an  experi- 
ment which  was  intended  to  be  one  in  free  association  there  was 
really  some  involimtary  set  of  the  mind,  this  fact  should  be  taken 
into  account  in  considering  the  results.  The  experiment  on  "Re- 
verie" was  intended  to  represent  one  case  of  free  association. 
Another  typical  case  is  to  be  found  in  the  study  of  single  associative 
pairs  of  words,  illustrated  in  the  present  experiment. 

Material  and  Procedure — A  list  of  words  is  printed  on  a 
sheet  of  paper.  This  sheet  is  covered  with  another  sheet  which 
is  moved  along,  thus  exposing  the  words  only  one  at  a  time.  As 
soon  as  each  word  is  seen,  write  down  opposite  it  the  first  word  that 
occurs,  or  some  designation  of  the  first  idea  that  comes  into  the  mind. 
(See  Special  Sheets.) 

It  may  not  be  a  single  word  that  comes,  but  may  sometimes  be 
an  idea  that  requires  several  words  for  its  expression.  Whatever 
it  be — take  the  first  single  word  that  comes  into  the  mind,  for  this 
is  an  experiment  in  free  association.  After  having  filled  out  the 
lists,  examine  the  material  in  the  following  ways. 

I — Is  there  any  evidence  of  the  presence  of  a  particular 
mental  set?     If  so,  what  is  this  evidence? 

2 — Try  to  determine  how  far  primacy,  recency,  frequency 
and  vividness  of  experience  may  have  been  operative  in  making 
the  particular  idea  come  up  in  response  to  the  printed  word. 
How  many  cases  of  each  do  you  find  in  the  material?  Tabulate 
these  cases.  Of  course  only  the  introspections  of  the  subject  can 
be  relied  on  here,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  easy  to 
read  into  events,  after  they  have  happened,  explanations  which 
were  not  really  operative  in  the  process  when  it  occurred. 

3 — In  the  class  room  the  classification  of  association  types  will 
be  discussed,  and  the  following  list  given  of  the  typical  ways  in 
which  associated  ideas  or  words  may  be  related  to  each  other. 
Such  a  table  is  of  interest  in  determining  ideational  type,  interest, 
characteristics,  occupation,  age,  intellectual  and  emotional  pecu- 
liarities, etc.  Classify  your  associations  according  to  this  table. 
Make  a  table  showing  the  proportion  of  associations  of  each  of  the 
classes. 


70  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 


Table  of  Association  Types. 

category  example 

Emotional — 

I — Failure  of  response 

2 — Egocentric succeed — I  must. 

3 — Egocentric  predicate lonesome — never. 

4 — Judgment  of  quality rose — beautiful. 

Intellectual — 

5 — Simple  predicate spinach — green. 

6 — Subject  relation dog — bite. 

7 — Object  relation deer — shoot. 

8 — Causality joke — laughter. 

9 — Co-ordination cow — horse. 

ID — Sub-ordination food — bread. 

II — Supra-ordination rat — animal. 

1 2 — Contrast sunlight — shadow. 

13 — Co-existence engine — cars. 

14 — Identity expensive — costly. 

Superficial — 

15 — Language  (motor) town — state. 

16 — Word-compounding side — board. 

1 7 — Rhyme pack — tack. 

18 — Syntactic  change deep — depth. 

19 — Miscellaneous (very  few). 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  71 

4 — If  possible,  perform  this  experiment  on  some  member  of 
your  family,  or  even  on  several  of  them.  Coiint  up  the  number  of 
responses  that  are  identical  with  your  own.  How  much  resem- 
blance do  you  find  in  this  respect?  Now  compare  your  own  tables 
with  those  of  several  of  the  other  students  with  whom  you  are 
not  very  familiar  or  are  at  least  not  related.  Do  you  find  any 
considerable  correspondence  in  responses?  How  does  this  cor- 
respondence compare  with  that  found  between  yourself  and  your 
relatives?  Do  your  mother  or  sisters  resemble  you  in  this  respect 
more  than  your  father  or  brothers?  If  you  find  interesting  results 
on  this  point,  how  do  you  account  for  them?  It  will  be  still  better 
if,  instead  of  merely  computing  the  nimiber  of  identical  responses, 
you  determine  in  each  case  the  proportion  of  each  type  of  reaction 
as  based  on  the  classification  of  the  foregoing  table.  Such  a 
qualitative  comparison  is  likely  to  reveal  interesting  likeness  and 
differences. 

5 — By  the  standard  methods,  for  which  consult  the  instructor, 
determine  the  number  of  individual  responses  and  the  median  of 
community  for  yourself  and  your  partner.  Compare  these  with 
similar  records  from  other  members  of  the  class.  What  conclu- 
sions are  suggested? 

6 — Devise  some  new  experiment  or  investigation  in  which  this 
form  of  the  association  method  might  prove  useful.  State  in 
detail  the  purpose  and  method  of  the  experiment. 


References — 

A  special  set  of  references  to  articles  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Psychology,  the  Psychological  Review, 
the  Journal  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology,  and  other 
periodical  publications  will  be  given  out  in  the 
laboratory  or  class  room. 


72 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 


Free  Association  Experiment.  (Special  Sheet.) 
As  quickly  as  possible  and  in  regular  order,  write  alongside 
each  of  the  following  stimulus  words  the  first  word  or  idea  which 
comes  into  your  mind  as  a  result  of  having  read  the  stimulus 
word.  Begin  at  the  bottom  of  the  column,  uncovering  the  words 
one  by  one.     Do  not  pass  over  any  words. 


STIMULUS  WORD 

table 

music 

man 

soft 

mountain . 

black 

comfort . . . 

short 

butterfly. . 
command . 

sweet 

woman.  .  . 

slow 

river 

beautiful . . 

rough 

foot 

needle .... 

sleep 

carpet .... 

high 

sour 

trouble.  .  . 
cabbage . . . 
eagle 


ASSOCIATE 


STIMULUS  WORD 

dark 

sickness.  .  . 

deep 

eating 

house 

mutton .... 

hand 

fruit 

smooth .... 

chair 

whistle. .  .  . 

cold 

wish 

white 

window.  .  . 
citizen.  .  .  . 

spider 

red 


ASSOCIATE 


anger . 


girl 

working . 

earth 

soldier.  . 
hard. . . . 
stomach . 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 


73 


STIMULUS  WORD            ASSOCIATE            STIMULUS  WORD 

stem 

lamp 

dream .... 

yellow.  .  .  . 

bread 

justice .... 

boy 

light 

health .... 

Bible 

sheep 

bath 

cottage .... 

swift 

blue 

hungry .  .  . 

priest 

ocean 

head 

stove 

long 

whiskey . . . 

chHd 

bitter 

hammer.  . 

thirsty .... 

city 

square.  .  .  . 

butter .... 

doctor. .  .  . 

loud 

thief 

lion 

joy 

bed 

heavy 

tobacco. . . 

baby 

moon 

scissors 

quiet 

green 

salt 

street 

king 

cheese 

blossom . . . 

afraid 

ASSOCIATE 


74  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  35— CONTROLLED  ASSOCIATION. 

A — Association  forwards  and  backwards — Prepare  columns  of 
twenty  letters,  arranging  the  letters  in  irregtdar  order,  and 
omitting  the  letters  A  and  Z.  Make  six  such  columns.  Take  the 
time  required  to  write  after  the  letters  of  the  first  column  the  letters 
following  each  of  the  given  letters  in  alphabetical  order;  take  the 
time  required  in  the  second  column  to  write  the  letters  preceding 
each  of  the  given  letters.  Third  and  fifth  coltunns  do  as  the  first; 
fourth  and  sixth  as  the  second.  Average  the  results  of  the  like 
columns. 

B — Determine  which  is  the  quicker  association — that  between 
the  sight  of  a  color  and  saying  its  name,  or  that  between  the 
sight  of  the  name  of  a  color  and  saying  the  name.  After  doing 
the  test,  examine  the  material  carefully,  to  see  if  it  is  really  a  fair 
test.    Ease  in  this  experiment  is  indicated  by  speed. 

C — Determine  whether  it  is  easier  to  keep  the  same  control 
(problem,  or  ^'mental  set^^)  through  a  series  of  tasks,  or  to  change 
from  one  control  to  another.  A  test  blank  is  used  in  which  are 
pairs  of  one-place  numbers.  In  one  blank  the  +  sign  is  inserted 
between  the  members  of  every  pair;  in  another  blank  the  —  sign 
is  inserted;  and  in  a  third,  sometimes  the  one  and  sometimes  the 
other  sign  in  irregular  order.  There  should  be  four  different 
blanks  of  each  kind.  Take  the  time  for  each  of  the  twelve 
columns.  Do  them  in  irregular  order,  e.g.,  do  the  first  column 
in  the  first  sheet,  next  the  second  in  the  second  sheet,  next  the 
third  in  the  third  sheet,  and  so  on.  Tabulate  your  results  as 
follows — 

ADDING  SUBTRACTING  MIXED 

Coltmm  I 

Column  2 

Colimin  3 

Column  4 

Totals 

What  inferences,  if  any,  can  you  draw? 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  75 

Dissociation,  Suppression,  and  Inhibition. 

General  Remarks. 

According  to  some  investigators,  the  failure  to  recall  a  really 
familiar  name,  or  the  failure  of  repetition  of  a  previous  or  common 
association  in  response  to  a  given  stimulus  word,  points  to  the 
existence  of  some  obstruction,  or  suppression,  or  complex.  This 
obstruction  or  complex,  it  is  maintained,  may  often  be  discovered 
by  letting  the  thoughts  play  freely  about  the  stimulus  word  or 
the  response  word,  and  following  up  every  lead  that  suggests  it- 
self— no  matter  how  inconsequential  in  appearance — especially 
if  the  lead  or  train  of  thoughts  or  topics  has  an  emotional  tone. 

The  obstruction  to  recall  or  repetition  is  conceived  as  equiva- 
lent to  an  unwillingness  to  recall  the  name  or  something  associated 
with  it.  The  subject  is  supposed  to  have  driven  something  dis- 
agreeable from  his  mind,  and  the  forgotten  name  has  become  en- 
tangled in  this  disagreeable  "complex"  and  suppressed  or  dis- 
sociated along  with  it.  Once  the  name  is  known,  however,  free 
associations  may  lead  from  it  to  the  "complex " — that  is,  may  bring 
back  what  has  been  driven  from  the  mind,  or  **  suppressed."  The 
process  of  discovering  these  relations  is  known  as  "psychanaly- 
sis". 

There  is  considerable  evidence  that  many  abnormal  mental 
states,  such  as  phobias,  obsessions,  fixed  ideas,  amnesias,  aboulias, 
splits  of  personality,  etc.,  are  produced  by  these  mechanisms  of 
suppression  and  dissociation,  in  the  case  of  people  who  have 
psychopathic  personalities  and  who  suffer  from  early  shocks  and 
suppressions,  which  develop  into  "complexes".  It  is  said  that  the 
method  of  psychanalysis,  when  carefully  and  skillfully  followed  up, 
leads  to  the  discovery  of  these  "complexes  ",and  that,  when  they  are 
once  discovered  and  brought  into  the  clear  light  of  consciousness, 
the  abnormal  mental  symptoms  disappear.  The  subject  may  be 
interested  to  make  further  psychanalytic  experiments  on  himself 
or  others. 

It  is  further  maintained  by  these  investigators  (the  so-called 
Freudian  school  of  psychologists,  named  after  Sigmund  Freud, 
their  master)  that  dreams  are  but  the  disguised  expression  of  these 
"complexes"  which  assert  themselves  when  the  censorship  of 
waking  consciousness  is  removed.  All  dreams  are  thus  held  to  be 
the  expression,  in  a  disguised  way,  according  to  certain  definitely 
stated  laws  of  distortion,  of  suppressed  wishes,  fears,  impulses, 
or  other  emotional  experiences. 

The  following  experiments  may  be  made  by  way  of  illustrating 
the  methods  of  psychanalysis.  They  may  also  throw  some  addi- 
tional light  on  the  question  of  the  correctness  or  incorrectness  of 
the  generalizations  of  the  Freudian  psychology. 


76  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  36— INHIBITIONS  AND  COMPLEXES. 

Repeat  the  Free  Association  experiment  which  you  have 
already  performed,  using  the  same  100  stimulus  words  as  before, 
with  the  same  instructions  and  precautions.  Cover  up  the  re- 
sponses previously  given  by  pinning  a  sheet  of  paper  over  them, 
not  noticing  any  of  them  meanwhile.  Record  the  new  responses 
on  this  fresh  sheet  of  paper. 

The  experimenter  may  now  compare  the  two  lists,  without 
letting  the  reagent  see  them.  He  will  find  that  in  some  cases  the 
same  response  to  the  stimulus  word  was  given  in  both  experiments. 
In  other  cases  different  responses  will  have  been  given  in  the  two 
cases.  The  experimenter  makes  a  list  of  all  the  stimulus  words 
that  gave  different  responses  on  the  two  occasions.  Along  with 
these  stimulus  words  he  intersperses  a  considerable  number  of  the 
original  stimulus  words  having  identical  responses  in  the  two  ex- 
periments. 

This  composite  selected  list  is  now  presented  to  the  reagent, 
the  words  being  given  one  at  a  time,  with  some  such  instructions 
as  the  following — 

"Let  your  mind  play  freely  about  this  word,  letting  it  call 

up  anything  and  everything  that  it  will.     Tell  me  whether  it 

suggests  anything  of  personal  significance  to  you — such  as  any 

topic  which  you  would  not  care  to  talk  about  to  everybody, 

any  experience,  event,  desires  or  thoughts  which  you  wotdd 

hesitate  to  reveal  to  others. " 

If  such  personal  associations  are  foimd,  the  reagent  need  not 
report  what  they  are,  but  he  should  indicate  whether  they  are 
agreeable  or  disagreeable. 

The  experimenter  now  compares  the  stimulus  words  which 
gave  identical  responses  with  those  which  gave  different  responses, 
in  the  two  experiments  on  free  association,  and  finds  how  many 
(how  large  a  proportion)  of  each  are  connected  with  emotional 
topics.     State  the  results  as  follows — 

NATURE    OF    STIMULUS    WORD  LATER  ASSOCIATIONS 

I — Provoking  identical  responses  and  con-    Agreeable % 

nected  with  emotional  topics Disagreeable. .  % 

2 — Provoking  different  responses  and  con-    Agreeable % 

nected  with  emotional  topics Disagreeable..  % 

On  the  basis  of  these  results,  what  conclusions,  principles  or 
suggestions  are  offered  with  respect  to  the  mechanism  of  these  free 
associations,  and  the  factors  which  determine  their  stability  or 
instability? 

References — 

Jung— The  Association  Method  (Am.  J.  Psychol.,  1910). 
Sutherland — Critique  of  Word  Association  Reactions. 


Outlines  J  or  Experimental  Psychology  77 

EXPERIMENT    37— ASSOCIATION    OF    NAMES    AND    FACES. 

A — In  this  experiment  the  learning  and  recall  of  proper  names 
in  connection  with  human  faces  is  to  be  studied  by  the  "method 
of  paired  associates".  The  experimenter  procures  sets  of  20 
photographs  of  unknown  persons.  To  each  face  he  assigns  a 
surname,  employing  a  variety  of  names. 

Expose  the  portraits  to  the  subject,  one  at  a  time,  saying  "This 

is  Mr.  ",  "This  is  Miss  ",  etc.  as  the  case  may  be. 

Allow  the  subject  to  examine  the  portrait  for  5  seconds.     Allow 
S  seconds  at  least  between  the  various  portraits. 

After  having  presented  a  series  of  20  portraits,  show  each  pic- 
ture in  turn,  and  in  a  random  order,  asking  the  subject  to  name 
each  correctly.  Here  the  portrait  is  the  stimulus  and  the  name 
is  the  response.  Instruct  the  subject  to  respond  by  the  first  name 
that  comes  to  his  mind.  If  he  is  right,  tell  him  so.  If  he  is  wrong, 
correct  him,  and  continue  until  all  20  have  been  shown.  Record  all 
names  that  are  given  alongside  the  number  of  the  picture. 

Then  repeat  the  series  of  stimuli,  calling  again  for  the  names 
and  again  correcting  the  false  associations.  Record  all  the  names 
given,  as  before.  Continue  this  process  of  repeating  the  whole 
series  of  20,  until  all  the  pictures  are  named  correctly  as  soon  as 
they  are  presented. 

Now  compare,  in  each  case,  the  wrong  responses  with  the  cor- 
rect name,  and  see  what  you  can  discover  as  to  the  kind  of  errors 
made,  the  probable  explanations  of  these  errors,  and  in  general — 
the  mechanism  of  this  sort  of  association.  Do  the  false  responses 
at  all  approximate  or  resemble  the  correct  names?  What  is  the 
the  nature  of  the  resemblance?  Are  there  various  kinds  of  resem- 
blance, and  if  so  are  some  more  common  than  others?  What 
parts  or  characteristics  of  a  name  are  most  quickly  or  easily  learn- 
ed? Use  the  method  of  psychanalysis  with  the  difficult  names, 
and  discover,  if  possible,  whether  there  is  anything  of  an  emotional 
character  associated  with  these  names  in  the  experience  of  the 
subject. 

B — As  a  further  development  of  this  experiment,  think  of  some 
person  of  your  acquaintance  whose  name  you  cannot  at  once  recall. 
Or  the  name  of  some  literary  or  historical  character  may  serve 
the  purpose.  Note  down  all  the  names  that  come  to  your  mind, 
all  words  or  ideas  of  any  kind,  as  rapidly  as  they  come,  and  con- 
tinue this  process  until  the  correct  name  comes  to  mind.  Now 
compare  the  false  responses  with  the  correct  name,  and  make  out 
answers  to  such  questions  as  those  asked  in  the  first  part  of  the 
experiment.  In  some  cases  it  will  be  found  better  to  wait  until 
some  chance  occasion  arises,  in  which  you  find  yourself  unable 
to  recall  some  name.  Then  carry  out  the  experiment  as  here 
described.  This  will  eliminate  the  artificial  character  which  the 
experiment  may  have  when  tried  in  the  laboratory. 


78  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

References — 

Freud — Psychopathologie  des  Alltagslebens, 
Hollingworth — Characteristic  Differences  Between  Re- 
call and  Recognition,  American  Journal  of  Psycho- 
logy, Oct.,  1913,  pp.  532-544. 

EXPERIMENT   38— QUANTITATIVE  MEASUREMENTS  OF  ASSOC- 

lATION  STRENGTH. 

The  purpose  of  this  experiment  is  to  demonstrate  the  influence 
of  frequency,  recency,  primacy  and  vividness  of  an  experience  on 
the  probability  of  its  recall,  and  to  determine  in  an  approximate 
way  the  relative  strength  of  these  several  factors.  The  experi- 
ment is  a  modification  of  those  described  in  Calkins,  "Association", 
Monograph  Supplement  of  the  Psychological  Review,  No.  2. 
The  material  consists  of  colored  frames  or  cards,  each  color  or 
card  being  accompanied  by  a  two-place  niimber;  a  screen  for  con- 
cealing the  experimenter's  preparations  from  the  subject;  a  pendu- 
lum or  metronome  beating  seconds.  There  are  frames  or  cards 
of  various  colors.  The  numbers  comprise  all  the  two-place  nimi- 
bers  that  do  not  contain  o  nor  a  repeated  digit.  The  colors  are 
presented  in  connection  with  the  nimibers,  and  at  a  later  period 
or  after  a  short  time,  depending  on  the  plan  of  the  experiment, 
the  colors  are  shown  alone,  the  subject  being  now  asked  to  call  up 
the  number  previously  shown  with  each  color.  The  psychological 
process  involved  is  thus  a  process  of  association  between  number 
and  color,  this  association  being  the  basis  of  the  recall  when  it 
occurs. 

In  the  experiment  the  following  series  are  to  be  used — 

I — Normal  Series — designated  by  the  letter  "N".  In  these 
series  each  of  the  frames  will  be  filled  by  a  different  nimiber  and 
the  set  will  be  shown  in  series,  with  about  3  seconds  exposure  of 
each,  at  about  2  seconds  interval.  As  soon  as  the  series  has  been 
shown,  the  colors  are  shown  alone  and  the  subject  asked  to  think 
of  some  two-place  number  for  each  color.  He  will  be  unable  to 
remember  all  the  numbers,  but  should  at  any  rate  always  say  the 
first  nimiber  that  is  suggested  to  him  by  each  frame,  even  if  this 
number  is  felt  to  be  merely  a  "guess".  The  number  should  be 
given  promptly,  the  empty  frame  being  exposed  not  over  3  seconds. 
Ten  of  these  Normal  series  are  to  be  taken,  in  an  order  described 
later.  On  the  basis  of  these  results,  which  are  to  be  tabulated 
separately,  the  experimenter  is  to  calculate  the  normal  probability 
that  a  number  shown  in  connection  with  a  color  shall  be  recalled 
by  that  color.  These  series  will  also  afford  data  for  the  tables  on 
primacy  and  recency. 

2 — Frequency  Series — To  examine  the  effect  of  frequency  on 
association  strength  introduce  in  the  midst  of  the  normal  series, 
in  the  order  suggested  later  on,  some  series  in  which  one  of  the 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  79 

colors  with  its  number  shall  be  shown  twice.  Have  five  such 
series  and  designate  them  F2  (frequency  2).  Have  also  five 
series  in  which  some  color  and  its  number  appear  three  times, 
and  designate  these  series  F3.  Have  also  five  series  of  F4.  In 
summing  up  the  results  of  the  frequency  series,  compare  the  prob- 
ability of  recalling  a  number  that  has  occurred  once  only  (N) 
with  that  of  recalling  one  that  has  occurred  twice,  three  times  and 
four  times. 

3 — Vividness  Series — Since  we  can  reasonably  assume  from 
general  experience  that  a  vivid  experience  is  more  readily  recalled 
than  one  that  has  nothing  special  to  impress  or  characterize  it,  a 
question  worth  examining  is — "What  will  make  an  experience 
vivid?"  and  another  question  is  "How  does  vividness  compare, 
in  efhcacy,  with  frequency,  primacy,  and  recency?"  Apply 
these  questions  to  the  material  in  hand,  and  devise  means  cal- 
culated to  make  the  experience  of  one  number  and  its  color  vivid. 

Think  up  your  own  method  of  vivifying  the  experience.  Try 
at  least  two  devices,  giving  five  series  to  each  method.  What  sort 
of  device  is  most  successful?  Try  various  schemes  until  you  have 
found  two  that  bring  success — that  is,  that  make  the  number 
recalled  more  times  than  in  the  normal  series.  Call  these  vividness 
series  Vi  and  V2. 

In  work  of  this  kind  it  is  advisable  to  make  a  plan  for  the 
whole  course  of  the  experiments,  to  have  this  plan  well  in  mind 
and  mapped  out  on  paper,  and  to  follow  it  methodically.  A  copy 
of  such  a  plan  will  be  found  in  the  laboratory.  Copy  this  plan 
in  making  out  your  preliminary  tables,  observing  both  the  method 
of  recording  the  data  and  the  order  in  which  the  series  occur. 
Models  of  tables  of  final  results  will  also  be  found  in  the  labora- 
tory. Follow  these  models  in  reporting  your  experiments.  Dis- 
cuss all  results  in  full. 

The  discussion  of  results  will  fall  under  the  following  headings. 

Primacy  and  Recency — ^Assuming  that  the  various  colors  are 
equally  vivid,  show  how  many  times  the  first  number  in  a  series 
(N)  will  be  recalled,  how  many  times  the  second,  and  so  on  for  each 
place  in  the  series.  Is  there  any  indication  of  the  effects  of 
primacy  and  recency?  What  are  these  effects?  How  does  pri- 
macy compare  with  recency,  in  its  influence  on  association 
strength?     Do  these  results  have  any  practical  applications? 

Frequency — What  is  the  character  of  the  effect  of  frequency 
on  association  strength?  How  does  this  effect  vary  with  the  degree 
of  frequency?  How  does  the  effect  of  frequency  compare  with 
that  of  primacy?  How  does  it  compare  with  that  of  recency? 
Does  mere  repetition  produce  association  strength?  Give  instances 
to  support  your  answer.  Suppose  repetition  to  be  unaccompanied 
by  "the  determination  to  learn".     Would  it  still  be  effective? 


80  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Vividness — What  sort  of  devices  will  produce  vividness  in 
such  an  experiment  as  this?  What  factors  most  often  produce 
vividness  in  daily  life?  What  is  the  effect  of  vividness  on  asso- 
ciation strength?  What  is  the  relative  value  of  the  various  de- 
vices used?  How  does  the  effect  of  vividness  on  association 
strength  compare  with  the  effect  of  Primacy?  Recency?  Fre- 
quency? Does  mere  vividness  produce  association  strength? 
Need  vividness  be  accompanied  by  the  "determination  to  learn"? 
Do  these  facts  have  any  application  in  daily  life? 

References — 

Calkins — Association,  Psych.  Rev.  Mon.  Suppl.  No.  2. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chaps.  12  and  13. 
Titchener  —  Qualitative        Manuals,        Experiment 

XXXVII.  in  Chap.  XII. 
James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XIV. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  81 

Memory. 

(Conditions  that  Influence  the  Efficiency  of  Memory.) 

EXPERIMENT  39— THE  MASS  METHOD  AND  THE 
SECTIONAL  METHOD. 

Is  it  better,  in  memorizing  a  series  of  numbers  or  words,  to 
read  them  over  and  over,  reading  each  time  the  whole  series,  or  to 
learn  the  series  in  parts  of  suitable  length  to  be  readily  learned? 
To  answer  this  question,  take  sets  of  16  digits,  and  determine  the 
time  required  to  learn  each  set  so  as  just  to  be  able  to  repeat  it 
once  correctly.  Take  the  time  with  the  stop  watch.  Proceed  as 
follows,  to  avoid  the  effect  of  practise,  or  rather  to  distribute  these 
effects  equally  between  the  two  methods  of  memorizing.  Learn 
the  first  set  of  16  digits  as  seems  most  natural;  learn  the  second 
set  by  reading  through  and  through,  without  any  division  into 
parts ;  learn  the  third  series  by  breaking  it  up  into  parts  and  learn- 
ing each  of  these  before  passing  to  the  next.  When  the  parts  are 
learned,  they  must  still  be  combined  so  that  the  whole  series  can 
be  run  off  together  without  error  or  help.  Learn  the  fourth  set 
in  the  same  way  as  the  second,  the  fifth  the  same  as  the  third, 
and  so  on  alternately.  It  is  best  not  to  continue  this  sort  of 
work  too  long  at  a  time,  if  you  feel  yourself  growing  dull  and  in- 
efficient at  it;  but  care  should  always  be  taken  to  make  equal 
numbers  of  series  by  the  two  methods  of  memorizing,  on  each  day 
on  which  such  work  is  done.  The  subject  should  keep  watch  of 
the  exact  way  in  which  he  goes  to  work,  and  if  he  changes  his  way 
of  working  at  all — though  this  is  on  the  whole  undesirable  for 
the  purposes  of  this  experiment — he  should  make  careful  note  of 
the  change.  In  general,  the  subject's  introspective  observations 
shotild  be  recorded. 

Now  perform  a  similar  experiment,  using  stanzas  of  poetry 
instead  of  digits.  Do  you  get  different  results  in  the  two  cases? 
What  is  the  significance  of  your  results? 

References — 

Myers — Experimental    Psychology,   Chaps.  XII   and 

XIII. 
Watt — The  Economy  and  Training  of  Memory. 


"82  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  40— RHYTHMICAL  MEMORIZING. 

There  is  still  a  third  way  of  going  to  work  in  memorizing  a 
series  of  niimbers,  and  that  is  to  read  them  in  a  strongly  marked 
rhythmical  form,  dividing  the  set  of  16  digits  into  four  groups  of 
four,  and,  while  reading  the  whole  16  right  through  each  time, 
yet  to  make  a  pause  after  each  group  of  four,  and  to  accent  the 
first  digit  in  each  group.  This  rhythmizing  of  the  series  should 
be  avoided  as  far  as  possible  in  the  preceding  tests;  but  a  special 
test  may  be  made  of  its  value,  by  comparing  the  time  necessary 
to  learn  a  set  of  16  digits  in  this  way  and  in  the  better  of  the  two 
preceding  ways.  As  this  method  will  not  have  had  the  practise  that 
has  been  given  the  other  methods  of  memorizing  in  the  preceding 
experiments,  it  will  be  well  to  begin  by  a  few  sets  in  which  the 
rhythmic  method  is  employed — enough  of  these  preliminary  trials 
should  be  taken  to  make  the  method  about  as  familiar  as  the  other 
one  with  which  it  is  to  be  compared.  Record  should  of  course 
be  kept  of  these  preliminary  trials.  After  that,  make  alternate 
experiments  by  the  rhythmic  method  and  by  the  other  methods 
with  which  you  wish  to  compare  it. 

It  is  hard  to  say  beforehand  how  many  sets  of  digits  must  be 
memorized  before  the  question  shall  be  satisfactorily  answered  for 
a  given  individual.  There  is  sure  to  be  some  variability  between 
the  times  required  to  learn  sets  of  16  digits;  and  where  there  is 
variability  not  much  can  be  inferred  from  a  single  pair  of  measure- 
ments. The  greater  the  variability,  the  more  trials  must  be  made 
to  determine  the  point  at  issue.  The  closer  and  more  uniform  the 
attention  given  to  the  act  of  memorizing,  the  less  variable  will  be 
the  results,  and  the  fewer  of  them  will  be  needed.  Try  to 
satisfy  yourself  of  the  validity  of  your  results,  and  when  you  have 
done  so,  consult  the  instructor,  and  see  if  you  can  satisfy  him. 
You  should  also  be  careful  not  to  prejudge  the  restdts ;  and  not  to 
allow  yourself  to  work  for  any  particular  results;  you  should  try 
just  as  hard  in  one  method  of  memorizing  as  in  the  other. 

References — 

Watt — The  Economy  and  Training  of  Memory. 
Myers — Experimental    Psychology,    Chaps.  XII  and 

XIII. 
Pillsbury — Attention,  Chap.  IX. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  83 

EXPERIMENT  41— THE  CURVE  OF  FORGETTING. 

I — Lists  of  Numbers. — Take  the  time  for  learning  a  set  of 
16  digits,  as  in  preceding  experiments,  just  sufficiently  to  be  able 
to  repeat  it  once  correctly  a  moment  later.  Wait  one-half  minute 
and  see  how  much  time  is  necessary  to  releam  it  to  this  same  de- 
gree. In  another  set  wait  2  minutes,  with  another  5,  another  20 
and  with  still  another  2  days.  Do  enough  of  the  different  sorts 
of  experiment  to  be  sure  of  the  rate  of  disappearance  of  the  reten- 
tion. How  will  you  measure  the  rate  of  disappearance?  Draw 
the  curve  of  forgetting  for  numerals. 

2 — Length  of  Lines. — In  the  same  way  test  the  ability  to 
reproduce  a  standard  line  by  drawing  it  with  a  pencil.  Vary  the 
interval  between  standard  and  reproduction  through  5  seconds, 
10  seconds,  15  seconds,  30  seconds,  i  minute,  5  minutes,  15 
minutes,  i  hour,  2  days.  Plat  the  curve  of  forgetting,  taking 
3  trials  for  each  interval. 

References — 

Bean — The  Curve  of  Forgetting. 

Myers — Experimental    Psychology,    Chaps.  XII  and 

XIII. 
Hollingworth — The  Inacurracy  of  Movement,  Chap.  V. 
— Advertising  and  Selling,  Chap.  XI. 


EXPERIMENT  42— THE  MEMORY  SPAN. 

Find  your  partner's  memory  span  for  digits,  letters,  syllables, 
words  and  colors.  Beginning  with  short  series  which  he  can  al- 
ways remember  on  one  reading  or  hearing,  increase  the  length  of 
the  series  until  you  are  certainly  beyond  his  range.  How  many 
of  each  of  the  different  kinds  of  objects  can  he  hold  in  conscious- 
ness at  one  time?  This  number  is  called  the  immediate  memory 
span.  Compare  your  records  with  those  of  other  students. 
What  individual  differences  do  you  find?  On  what  factors  do 
you  suppose  these  differences  to  depend? 

References — 

Colegrove — Memory. 
Pillsbury — Attention. 


84  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  43— AUDITORY  AND  VISUAL  MEMORY. 

Using  words,  syllables  and  digits,  find  whether  your  partner 
can  remember  better  when  he  hears  the  series  or  when  he  sees  it. 
Make  5  trials  for  each  kind  of  material,  giving  a  series  of  12  or  16 
and  recording  the  number  of  right  cases.  Do  individuals  differ 
in  this  respect?  What  practical  suggestions  does  the  experiment 
seem  to  aflord? 

References — 

Watt — The  Economy  and  Training  of  Memory. 
Henmon — Psych.  Rev.,  March,  191 2,  pp.  79-96. 


EXPERIMENT  44— MEMORABILITY  OF  DIFFERENT 
KINDS  OF  THINGS. 

Some  people  find  it  difficult  to  remember  faces,  others  names, 
or  dates,  etc.,  while  other  things  are  remembered  with  greater 
ease.     Have  you  found  any  such  peculiarity  in  yourself? 

Devise  an  experiment  which  will  test  the  relative  memor- 
ability of  such  things  as  nouns,  digits,  objects,  colors,  syllables, 
proper  names,  photographs,  adjectives,  places,  etc.  Work  out 
a  complete  plan  and  report  to  the  instructor  for  suggestions  and 
criticism  before  performing  the  experiment.  Work  the  problem 
out  as  thoroughly  as  possible  with  the  material  at  hand. 

References — 

HoUingworth — The  Obliviscence  of  the  Disagreeable. 

Jour.  Phil.  Psych,  and  Sci.  Meth.,  Dec.  22,  1910. 

— Advertising  and  Selling,  pp.  208-214. 

Whipple — Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical  Tests — 

chapter  on   "The   Fidelity   of   Report".     (Special 

paragraphs.) 


EXPERIMENT  45— RELATION  BETWEEN  QUICKNESS 
AND  RETENTIVENESS. 

We  often  hear  people  say,  "It  takes  me  a  long  time  to  learn 
a  thing,  but  when  I  once  learn  it  I  never  forget  it".  Is  it  true 
that  people  who  learn  with  difficulty  remember  best?  Or  do  those 
who  learn  soonest  also  remember  best?  This  experiment  may  be 
taken  up  by  two  or  more  students,  using  the  members  of  the  class 
as  subjects.  The  results  can  be  worked  up  by  the  class  as  a 
whole.  The  method  will  be  to  repeat  after  a  given  period  material 
previously  learned,  taking  time  of  learning,  errors,  etc.  What  are 
the  weak  points  or  sources  of  error  in  such  an  experiment? 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  85 

Visual  Sensations. 

EXPERIMENT  46— VISUAL  AFTER  IMAGES. 

A — Look  at  the  flame  of  a  candle  in  the  dark  room  for  a  second, 
then  quickly  close  the  eyes  for  a  few  minutes.  What  is  the 
result? 

B — Fixate  the  catch  on  the  window  for  several  seconds,  then 
close  the  eyes,  cover  them  carefully  so  as  to  exclude  all  light, 
and  observe  what  happens  in  the  field  of  vision  during  the  next 
five  minutes  or  so. 

Try  this  several  times,  until  you  are  able  to  write  a  detailed 
description  of  the  character  and  order  of  succession  of  the  bril- 
liantly colored  after-images. 

C — Fixate  small  squares  of  various  colors,  then  quickly  trans- 
fer the  gaze  to  a  sheet  of  white  paper  or  the  gray  wall.  Describe 
what  happens  in  the  case  of  each  of  the  following  colors:  red, 
orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  violet,  black;  what  colored  after- 
image do  you  get  for  each?     Why? 

D — Project  the  after-images  of  each  color  upon  larger  squares 
of  the  other  colors,  instead  of  upon  the  gray  background.  What 
color  do  you  get  in  each  case?     Why? 

E — Lay  a  disc  of  bright  red  paper,  i  cm.  in  diameter,  upon  a 
white  field.  Close  and  cover  the  eyes,  until  there  is  no  trace  of 
after-images  in  the  dark  field.  Open  the  right  eye  and  fixate 
the  red  stimulus  for  five  seconds.  Then  close  and  cover  the  right 
eye;  blow  away  the  red  disc,  and  fixate  an  ink  dot  upon  the  white 
field  with  the  left  eye.  What  do  you  see?  How  is  it  to  be  ex- 
plained? 

References — 

Titchener — Experimental  Psychology,  Students  Man- 
ual (Qualitative),  pp.  22-30. 

— Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  68,   72,  75, 
92,  148  and  151. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

336-339- 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  89-91. 

Binet — Psychology  of  Reasoning,  pp.  44-49;  52  ff. 


86  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  47— COLOR  MIXING. 

If  the  lights  of  two  colors  are  simultaneously  thrown  on  the 
same  point  of  the  retina,  the  sensation  is  not  of  two  colors  but 
of  one,  which  is  different  from  either  of  the  lights  used.  There 
are  several  ways  of  color  mixing,  the  best  of  which  is  to  use  spec- 
tral colors — ^i.e.,  portions  of  two  spectra — but  this  is  not  so  con- 
venient as  some  others.  A  transparent  mirror  may  be  used. 
Commonly  we  use  a  rotating  disk  or  "color  wheel".  In  this 
method  the  two  colors  to  be  mixed  are  not  presented  quite  simul- 
taneously but  succeed  each  other  at  short  intervals  (30  or  more 
alternations  per  second  are  necessary  to  get  complete  fusion;  it 
is  worth  while  observing  the  curious  effects  produced  by  slower 
rotation).  On  account  of  retinal  inertia,  the  effect  of  a  brief 
stimulation  holds  over  for  a  fraction  of  a  second  and  so  blends 
with  the  effect  of  an  immediately  following  stimulation.  This  is 
the  principle  of  the  color  wheel  as  a  color  mixer. 

"Color  Equations".  When  two  colors,  mixed,  give  the  same 
sensation  as  a  third  single  color,  an  equation  can  be  written, 
stating  what  proportion  or  percentage  of  each  of  the  colors  mixed 
was  necessary  to  produce  the  required  color.  More  generally,  when 
the  mixture  of  two  or  more  colors  gives  the  same  sensation  as 
another  color  or  as  a  mixture  of  other  colors,  it  is  possible  to  write 
an  equation  expressing  the  proportions  of  each  necessary  in  order 
to  produce  like  sensations.  It  is  often  necessary  to  experiment 
for  some  time  before  finding  the  right  proportions,  and  it  is  also 
often  necessary  to  add  white  or  black  or  both  to  one  or  the  other 
mixtiire,  in  order  to  equate  the  brightness  and  the  saturation. 

I — Mix  black  and  white  to  produce  a  given  gray.  Write  the 
equation.  Are  the  black  and  white  used  in  this  experiment  reaUy 
black  and  white? 

2 — Determine  the  equation  for  a  given  orange  and  for  a  given 
purple  in  terms  of  standard  red,  yellow,  green  and  blue.  After 
getting  each  of  these  matches  perfect,  pull  down  the  black  cur- 
tains or  otherwise  diminish  the  illumination,  and  see  whether  the 
equation  still  holds  good. 

3 — Complementary  Colors — One  color  is  said  to  be  comple- 
mentary to  another  when  the  two,  on  being  mixed,  produce  white. 
"White",  as  here  used,  means  colorless;  what  is  produced,  in  ex- 
periments with  the  color  wheel,  is  usually  rather  a  dark  gray.  Of 
course  the  mixture  can  not  be  brighter  than  both  of  the  colors 
mixed,  by  this  method,  and  therefore  the  gray  obtained  will 
usually  be  dark.  Taking  the  standard  red,  yellow,  green  and  blue, 
determine  the  color  complementary  to  each  one  of  them.  Also 
find  the  complementary  to  scarlet,  grass  green  and  violet.  Observe 
carefully  each  pair  of  complementaries  with  reference  to  the 
spectrum,  and  also  write  the  equation  for  each. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  87 

4 — Mixing  Complementary  Colors — As  just  found,  there  is 
a  certain  proportion  in  which  if  two  complementary  colors  are 
mixed,  the  result  will  be  gray.  What  is  the  result  of  mixing  them 
in  other  proportions?  Mixing  two  colors  that  are  not  comple- 
mentary? Mix  them  in  all  proportions,  starting  with  practically 
all  of  the  first  and  almost  none  of  the  second,  and  gradually 
increasing  the  proportion  of  the  second  until  you  have  almost 
none  of  the  first;  and  describe  the  change  in  color  tone  and  also 
in  saturation.  Try  this  with  several  pairs  of  colors,  and,  taking 
into  account  also  the  results  of  mixing  complementary  colors, 
frame  a  general  law  stating  the  results  of  mixing  two  colors. 

5 — Mixing  Three  Colors — Primary  Colors — It  is  possible,  by 
using  three  properly  selected  colors,  to  get  from  their  mixture 
all  of  the  remaining  color  tones.  Several  such  sets  of  colors  can 
be  determined.  Determine  such  a  set  experimentally,  guiding 
yourself  as  far  as  possible  by  the  results  already  gained.  Write 
the  equation. 

References — 

Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

330-334- 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  81-83. 
Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  67-71. 

— Students  Manual,  Qualitative,  pp.  5-9. 
Rood — Text  Book  of  Color. 


EXPERIMENT  48— COLOR  CONTRAST. 

A — Lay  a  bit  of  white  paper  on  a  piece  of  black  velvet.  Where 
does  the  paper  seem  whitest?     The  velvet  blackest? 

B — Examine  the  black-white  contrast  card  and  describe  the 
effect  produced. 

C — On  a  large  colored  field  lay  a  small  strip  of  gray  paper  and 
cover  the  whole  with  a  piece  of  semi-transparent  white  paper. 
What  happens  to  the  strip  of  gray  paper?  Try  this  experiment 
using  red,  green,  yellow,  blue  and  orange  backgrounds. 

D — Arrange  two  lights  so  that  they  shall  cast  a  double  shadow 
of  a  pencil  upon  a  white  surface.  The  daylight,  if  not  too  strong, 
will  answer  for  one  light.  Introduce  different  colored  glasses 
one  after  another  before  one  of  the  lights,  and  notice  the  effect  on 
the  color  of  the  shadow  belonging  to  that  light.  How  do  you 
explain  these  effects? 

E — Ragona  Scina's  Experiment,  if  the  appropriate  apparatus 
is  available.      (Sanford,  "Experimental  Psychology,"    pp.  155- 

157-) 


88  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

References — 

Read  on  "Color  Contrast"  in  the  following — 
Rood — Text  Book  of  Color. 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology.    Also  Stu- 
dents Manual,  Qualitative. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology. 
Le  Conte — Vision. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology. 

EXPERIMENT  49— CAMPIMETRY. 

The  distribution  of  the  sensibility  of  the  retina  for  color  is 
unlike  that  for  light.  Surrounding  the  yellow  spot  are  several 
zones,  within  each  of  which  only  certain  colors  can  be  perceived. 
The  fixing  of  the  boundaries  of  these  zones  of  sensibility  is  known 
as  campimetry. 

With  the  apparatus  known  as  the  perimeter,  find  at  what 
angles  from  the  center  of  vision  on  the  vertical,  horizontal  and 
two  main  diagonal  meridians  of  the  eye  the  four  principal  colors, 
red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue  can  be  recognized.     Try  white  also. 

Keep  the  eye  steadily  fixed  on  the  fixation  mark  of  the  instru- 
ment and  have  your  partner  slide  the  color  slowly  into  the  field 
from  the  outside.  It  will  be  well  to  move  the  paper  slowly  to  and 
fro  at  right  angles  to  the  meridian,  so  as  to  avoid  retinal  fatigue. 
Ask  the  instructor  for  more  specific  directions. 

Record  on  a  carefully  prepared  map,  the  point  at  which  the 
color  can  first  be  recognized  with  certainty. 

What  zones  do  you  find?  Compare  your  results  with  those 
of  several  other  students.  What  individual  differences  are 
found? 

References — 

Howell — Text  Book  of  Physiology,  pp.  336-340. 
Titchener — Students  Manual,  Qualitative,  pp.  9-14. 

— Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  80-85. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  p.  79. 

EXPERIMENT  50— THE  BLIND  SPOT. 

A — ^With  the  card  provided  in  the  laboratory,  demonstrate 
the  presence  of  the  blind  spot. 

B — Draw  the  projection  of  the  blind  spot  in  your  own  eye. 
Arrange  a  head -rest  opposite  a  vertical  sheet  of  white  paper  15 
inches  distant.  Put  a  dot  on  the  paper  for  a  fixation  point. 
Fasten  upon  the  end  of  a  light  rod  a  bit  of  black  paper  about  2  mm. 
square.  Bring  face  into  position,  close  one  eye,  and  fix  the  other 
upon  the  dot.     Move  the  rod  slowly  so  as  to  bring  the  little  square 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  89 

over  the  part  of  the  paper  corresponding  to  the  blind  spot,  dotting 
on  the  paper  the  points  where  the  square  disappears  or  reappears. 
Repeat  at  various  points  till  the  outline  of  the  projection  of  the 
blind  spot  is  complete. 

Reproduce  the  map  in  your  note  book.  From  the  size  of  the 
outline  calculate  the  actual  size  of  the  blind  spot  on  the  retina, 

C — With  appropriate  apparatus  demonstrate  the  effect  of 
contours  and  the  filling  out  of  the  blind  spot. 

D — Why  are  we  not  inconvenienced  in  ordinary  vision,  by  the 
presence  of  the  blind  spot — In  binocular  vision?  In  monocular 
vision? 

References — 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  326-328. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

193-194. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  276  and  397. 
Sanford — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  102-105. 
Howell — Physiology,  pp.  316-317. 

EXPERIMENT  51— ENTOPTIC  APPEARANCES. 

A — Light  Dust:  Close  and  cover  the  eyes  so  as  to  exclude 
all  light,  taking  care  not  to  press  them.  Experiment  in  the  dark 
room.  Let  the  after  effects  of  objective  light  fade  away,  and  then 
watch  the  shifting  clouds,  stars  and  crescents  of  retinal  light. 
Describe  them.     How  caused? 

B — Turn  the  closed  eyes  to  the  left,  and  press  with  the  finger 
on  the  right  eye,  at  the  outer  comer  of  the  eyelid.  Notice  the 
colored  ring  that  appears  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  eye.  What 
causes  it? 

C — Concentrate  a  strong  light  (perferably  in  a  dark  room) 
with  a  lens,  on  the  sclerotic  in  the  outer  comer  of  the  eye  of 
your  partner,  requesting  him  to  turn  the  eye  toward  the  nose  and 
giving  him  a  dark  background  to  look  at.  Give  the  lens  a  gentle 
circular  motion.  Let  your  partner  describe  what  he  sees  on  the 
dark  background.  The  dark  branching  figure  is  the  shadow  of 
the  blood  vessels  in  the  retina. 

D — Look  through  a  pin  hole  in  a  card,  held  close  before  the 
eyes,  at  the  sky.  Give  the  card  a  rather  rapid  circular  motion. 
The  finer  retinal  vessels  in  the  region  of  the  yellow  spot  will  be 
seen  and  among  them  a  small  colored  or  slightly  tinted  disc-like 
spot.  This  is  the  macula.  In  its  center  find  a  shadowy  dot  which 
appears  to  rotate  when  the  motion  of  the  card  is  circular.  This 
is  the  fovea,  or  point  of  clearest  vision. 


90  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

References — 

Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  86-87. 
Howell — Text  Book  of  Physiology,  pp.  344-346. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 
325-357- 


EXPERIMENT  52— SINGLE  AND  DOUBLE  IMAGES. 

A — Hold  up  two  fingers,  one  about  a  foot,  the  other  about  two 
feet  from  the  eyes.  Fixate  the  nearer  finger;  it  will  be  seen 
single  and  the  farther  one  will  appear  double.  Fixate  the  farther 
one;  it  will  be  seen  single  while  the  nearer  appears  double. 

B — Fixate  the  near  finger  again  and  close  one  eye;  which  of 
the  three  images  disappears?  Fixate  the  farther  finger  and  repeat 
the  experiment;  which  image  disappears?  Draw  figures  explain- 
ing both  cases. 

References — 

Sanford — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  90-92. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  274-275. 
Howell — Text  Book  of  Physiology,  pp.  350-353. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

423-426. 
Le  Conte — Sight. 


EXPERIMENT    53— DURATION    OF    POSITIVE    AFTER-IMAGES. 

Place  the  color  mixer  in  such  a  position  that  the  special  disc 
shall  be  illiuninated  by  diffuse  daylight  only.  Turn  the  driving 
wheel  slowly  and  ascertain  by  counting,  how  many  turns  of  the 
disc  correspond  to  one  turn  of  the  wheel.  Start  the  metronome 
and  turn  the  wheel  in  time  with  its  beats,  making  a  turn  every  one, 
two,  or  four  beats.  Notice  which  of  the  rings,  if  any,  is  just 
blended  into  a  uniform  gray.  If  none  is  just  blended,  change  the 
rate  until  one  is  found.  From  the  rate  of  the  metronome,  the 
ntmiber  of  turns  of  the  driving  wheel,  and  the  niunber  of  sectors 
in  the  just  blended  ring,  find  the  number  of  stimuli  per  second 
required.  Avoid  eye  movements  which  break  up  the  uniformity 
of  the  gray. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  91 


Cutaneous  Sensation. 

(The  next  three  experiments  are  based  on  similar  ones  as  described  in 

Titchener's  Manual.) 

EXPERIMENT  54— TEMPERATURE  SPOTS. 

Purpose  I — To  discover  and  accurately  record  the  sense 
organs  of  temperature  which  lie  scattered  about  the  surface  of  the 
skin.  2 — and  to  become  introspectively  familiar  with  tempera- 
ture sensations  in  their  purest  forms. 

Materials — Metal  cylinders,  architects'  paper,  dyes,  inks, 
writing  points,  hot  water,  and  ice. 

I — Cold  Spots. 

Procedure — The  observer  (O)  lays  out  his  left  hand,  lightly 
clinched,  on  the  table,  dorsal  side  upwards.  On  the  smooth 
slightly  strained  skin  surface  in  the  region  of  the  second  and  third 
metacarpals  the  experimenter  (E)  marks  out  with  the  indel- 
ible ink  a  parallelogram  1.5  by  2.5  cm.  Draw  upon  the  archi- 
tects' paper  three  corresponding  parallelograms.  E  now  moves 
one  of  the  cooled  cylinders,  wiped  dry,  across  the  area,  along  the 
sides  of  the  parallelogram,  slowly  and  steadily.  At  some  points 
a  vivid  sensation  of  cold  will  flash  out.  When  such  a  spot  is  found, 
O  says  "There",  and  the  spot  is  marked  on  the  skin  with  a  dot 
of  green  dye.  If  the  sensation  obtained  be  very  intensive,  one  of 
the  outline  maps  is  laid  over  the  skin  and  a  tiny  ink  cross  made  on 
the  paper  at  the  point  where  the  dye  shows  through. 

When  one  line  has  been  worked  over  and  its  cold  spots  noted 
another  line  is  begun,  parallel  to  the  first  at  a  distance  of  i  mm. 
and  so  on  until  the  whole  area  has  been  explored.  E  now  lays 
one  of  the  outline  maps  over  the  area  and  makes  ink  dots  at  all  the 
points  (not  already  marked  with  crosses)  where  the  green  dots 
show  through.  This  gives  a  permanent  record  of  the  sense  organs 
of  cold  situated  within  this  particular  area. 

For  references  see  later  page. 

II — Warm  Spots. 

This  experiment  is  performed  in  the  same  way  as  the  preceding, 
except  that  metal  points  perceptibly  warm  (but  not  uncomfortable) 
are  used  instead  of  the  cold  cylinders.  Map  out  the  warm  spots, 
on  this  area.  Make  a  final  map  containing  both  the  warm  and 
cold  spots,  differently  marked. 

For  references  see  later  page. 


92  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

QUESTIONS. 

I — Are  the  cold  or  the  warm  spots  the  more  niimerous?  How 
are  they  distributed?  Should  both  be  marked  by  dots  of  the  same 
size? 

2 — ^Which  are  more  easily  verifiable,  the  intensive  or  the 
moderate  spots? 

3 — Did  you  experience  nothing  but  cold  at  the  cold  spots  and 
warm  at  the  warm  spots? 

4 — Do  cold  and  warm  spots  ever  coincide? 


EXPERIMENT  55— PRESSURE  SPOTS. 

Purpose — To  map  out  the  sense  organs  of  pressure  and  to 
become  familiar  with  the  pressure  quality. 

Materials — Inks,  dyes,  architects'  paper,  scale,  scissors,  lens, 
and  wooden  points  about  i  mm.  in  diameter. 

Procedure — O  lays  out  his  hand,  lightly  clenched,  on  the 
table  dorsal  side  upwards.  Between  the  fourth  and  fifth  meta- 
carpals E  marks  out  a  square  of  i  cm.  side.  Draw  four 
similar  squares  on  the  paper.  Make  a  map  of  the  hairs  lying 
within  the  region.  Cut  each  hair  off  short  and  mark  with  a  tiny 
dot  of  dye  the  point  where  each  shaft  emerges.  Transfer  this 
map  to  the  paper  and  wash  the  hand.  With  the  hard  wood  point 
pass  along  the  sides  of  the  square  not  continuously  as  for  tempera- 
ture, but  with  separate  pressures,  set  as  close  together  as  possible. 
Do  not  jab  the  point.  Apply  it  deliberately,  making  a  noticeable 
depression  of  the  skin  at  each  pressure,  and  always  holding  the 
point  vertical  to  the  skin  surface.  Points  of  clear  and  sharp 
pressure  will  be  found.  When  such  a  spot  is  touched  O  says 
"There "  and  the  spot  is  marked  with  a  dot  of  dye.  If  it  is  a  very 
intensive  spot,  it  may  be  marked  on  the  map  with  a  cross.  Explore 
in  this  way  the  whole  area,  working  in  parallel  lines  about  i  mm. 
apart. 

For  references  see  later  page. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  93 

QUESTIONS. 

I — What  is  the  relation  of  the  pressure  spots  to  the  hairs? 
Does  stimulation  of  the  hair  itself  give  a  pressure  that  is  identical, 
for  O's  introspection,  with  those  obtained  from  the  pressiu-e  spots? 
Do  pressure  spots  occur  in  hairless  regions?  Do  they  give  the 
same  sensation  as  is  given  by  the  hair  spots? 

2 — Which  set  of  spots  is  more  easily  verifiable,  the  intensive 
or  the  moderate? 

3 — What  introspective  differences  between  the  sensation 
evoked  by  strong  and  that  evoked  by  weak  stimulation  of  a  pres- 
sure spot? 

4 — Which  of  the  sensations  of  temperature  does  the  pressure 
sensation  more  nearly  resemble? 

5 — Did  the  pressure  stimulus  call  out  any  other  sensation  than 
that  of  pressure? 


EXPERIMENT  56— PAIN  SPOTS. 

Purpose — To  map  out  the  organs  of  cutaneous  pain  and  to 
learn  to  distinguish  the  pain  from  the  pressure  quality. 

Materials — Bristles,  millimeter  paper,  dye,  ink,  soap,  water, 
reading  glass. 

Procedure — On  the  area  tested  for  pressure  spots  E  marks  out 
in  indelible  ink  two  parallelograms  of  twenty  sq.  mm. 

Reproduce  these  on  enlarged  scale  on  mm.  paper,  mapping 
the  fine  furrows  that  cross  and  recross  the  skin.  Soften  the  skin 
with  soap  and  water,  shave  the  area  carefully.  The  skin  must 
remain  moist  and  flabby  throughout  the  experiment.  Begin 
work  on  one  of  the  areas,  keeping  the  other  moist  by  repeated  appli- 
cation of  the  soap  and  water.  When  the  first  area  shows  signs 
of  drying  pass  to  the  second  and  so  on. 

E  now  passes  one  of  the  points  along  one  of  the  sides  of  the 
area,  dot  by  dot,  as  in  case  of  pressure.  Set  the  point  down  firmly 
so  as  to  produce  a  distinct  depression  of  the  skin  but  not  piercing 
the  epidermis.  When  a  pain  spot  is  found  O  says  ''There" 
and  E  locates  the  spot  on  the  large  map  by  means  of  the  fur- 
rows. If  the  sensation  is  very  intense,  mark  the  spot  with  a  cross 
instead  of  with  a  dot.  Continue  until  both  areas  have  been 
thoroughly  explored. 


94  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

QUESTIONS. 

I — Which  of  the  other  three  cutaneous  sensations  does  that  of 
pain  most  nearly  resemble? 

2 — Characterize  the  pain  quality  introspectively. 

3 — How  does  the  nimiber  of  pain  spots  compare  with  that  of 
temperature  spots?  Are  they  related  to  any  peripheral  structure, 
as  the  pressure  spots  are  to  the  hairs? 

4 — Why  do  we  moisten  the  skin  in  this  experiment? 

References  on  Cold,  Warmth,  Pressure  and  Pain — 

Ladd  and  Wood  worth — Physiological  Psychology,  pp. 

1 78-181;  344-349. 
McKendrick  and  Snodgrass — Physiology  of  the  Senses, 

pp.  41-69. 
Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  pp.  143-159. 

— Students  Qualitative  Manual,  Chap.  III. 
Instructors  Qualitative  Manual,  Chap.  III. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  II. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  95 

Mental  Imagery. 

DISCUSSION. 

"  If  you  ask  yourself  what  you  have  in  mind  at  a  given  moment, 
what  is  present  in  your  consciousness,  you  find  that  there  is  often 
something  present  that  is  not  a  sensation,  i.e.  it  is  not  caused 
by  an  external  stimulus,  but  arises,  as  we  say,  within  the  mind. 
Some  of  these  inner  experiences  are  nevertheless  like  sensations 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree:  we  may  see  with  the  mind's  eye,  or 
hear  with  the  mind's  ear,  etc.  What  is  experienced  in  this  may 
be  called  imagery.  An  image  has  a  sensory  quality;  seeing  a 
person  with  the  mind's  eye  is  something  like  really  seeing  him; 
music  running  through  the  head  has  sound  more  or  less  like  real 
music.  Therefore  images  can  properly  be  classed  according  to 
their  kinship  to  different  sensations.  The  following  will  do  for  a 
classification  of  sensations,  and  therefore  of  possible  images: 
visual,  auditory,  smell,  taste,  touch,  temperature,  pain,  muscular, 
labyrinthic,  visceral.  An  image  should  be  one  of  these  or  else 
a  mixtiu"e  of  them." 


EXPERIMENT  57— VOLUNTARY  CONTROL  OF  IMAGES. 

See  whether  you  are  able  to  summon  up  images  of  each  of 
these  sorts:  e.g.,  for  visual,  your  breakfast  table  this  morning; 
for  auditory,  the  sound  of  a  friend's  voice,  or  of  familiar  music; 
for  smell,  the  odor  of  roast  beef  or  of  gasoline;  for  taste,  sugar;  for 
touch,  the  feeling  of  a  hair-brush,  etc;  for  muscular  sense,  opening 
and  closing  the  fist  (without  actually  doing  it);  for  ''labyrinthic" 
diving,  dizziness;  for  visceral,  hunger.  Keep  record,  as  you  go, 
of  all  your  results;  compare  with  the  results  of  others,  especially 
of  your  partner;  determine,  by  mutual  discussion,  which  of  you 
has  the  better  power  of  reproducing  each  sort  of  sensory  quality. 

References — 

Galton — Inquiry  into  Human  Faculty,  pp.  57-58. 
Calkins — Introduction  to  Psychology,  Chaps.  1 5  and  16. 
James — Principles  of  Psychology,  Chap.  18. 
Binet — Psychology  of  Reasoning. 


96  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  58— SPONTANEOUS  IMAGERY. 

In  the  preceding  experiment  you  tried  to  arouse  certain 
images  at  will ;  now  you  are  to  let  whatever  image  come  that  will. 
The  object  is  to  see,  in  each  individual,  what  sort  of  imagery  is 
most  readily  called  up.  The  material  to  he  used  consists  of  various 
words  and  phrases  written  on  cards.  The  pack  of  cards  is  to  be 
laid  on  the  table,  face  downward;  one  card  at  a  time  is  to  be  turned 
over,  and  as  soon  as  the  word  or  phrase  is  read,  the  subject  is  to 
notice  what  image  arises  first  within  his  mind.  Classify  the 
images  as  before  according  to  the  sense  to  which  they  belong. 
If  there  is  a  second  image  immediately  following  the  first,  take 
note  of  that  also.  In  case  nothing  that  you  can  call  an  image 
occurs,  note  that  fact.  In  many  cases,  it  will  be  well  to  describe 
the  experience  a  little  more  in  detail  than  is  implied  in  the  simple 
classification  of  the  image.  The  record  should  be  kept  as  follows: 
after  a  preliminary  description  of  the  experiment,  date,  etc.,  turn 
over  a  card,  get  the  image,  then  at  once  note  the  word  and  the 
image  in  your  book;  then  proceed  to  the  next.  After  one  list  of 
words  has  been  gone  through  with,  analyze  the  restdts  as  follows: 
in  each  case  consider  what  different  sorts  of  image  might  have 
been  called  up  by  the  given  word;  each  case  affords  a  chance  for 
different  sorts  of  imagery  to  appear,  and  the  one  that  does  appear 
seems,  so  far,  to  be  the  more  readily  excited.  Count  up  all  the 
cases  of  visual  preferred  to  auditory,  auditory  to  visual,  etc., 
and  endeavor,  from  the  total  result,  to  arrange  the  different  sorts 
of  imagery  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  preferred,  beginning  with 
the  most  readily  excited,  and  proceeding  downward  to  the  least 
readily  excited.  Present  your  resiilts  in  the  form  of  tables.  Plat 
these  tables  in  the  form  of  surfaces  of  distribution  also.  How  does 
the  result  of  this  experiment  compare  with  the  result  of  the  pre- 
ceding?    What  criticisms  of  the  method  and  restdts  occur  to  you? 

References — 

Betts — Distribution  and  Function  of  Imagery. 
Lay — Mental  Imagery. 
Ribot — Creative  Imagination. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  97 

EXPERIMENT  59— IMAGERY  OF  WORDS. 

It  appears  that  people  differ  in  the  ways  in  which  they  men- 
tally represent  language  to  themselves — some  always  thinking 
in  terms  of  sound,  some  in  terms  of  printed  or  written  characters, 
and  some  in  terms  of  the  movements  of  speech.  We  may  thus 
speak  of  auditory,  visual  and  articulatory  imagery  of  speech. 
The  aim  of  the  present  experiment  is  to  ascertain  what  imagery 
of  the  names  of  objects  spontaneously  occurs  to  you,  when  you 
see  the  objects  themselves,  and  think  of  their  names  without 
actually  saying  them.  A  pack  of  cards  each  having  on  it  a  color, 
picture  or  geometrical  form,  is  laid  face  down  on  the  table,  and 
the  cards  are  turned  over  one  by  one;  as  soon  as  you  see  what  is 
on  the  card,  name  it  mentally,  and  then  observe  whether  the  men- 
tal name  was  auditory,  visual,  motor,  or  whatever.  After  going 
through  the  series,  count  up  the  results,  and  determine  in  what 
form  names  most  readily  occur  to  you.  In  speaking,  do  you 
have  a  stream  of  images  of  words  flowing  along  in  advance  of  the 
spoken  words?  In  listening  to  another  person  speak,  do  you 
mentally  see  the  words  he  speaks?  In  reading,  do  you  mentally 
hear  the  words  as  you  read  them? 


EXPERIMENT  60— THE  DIFFERENTIA  OF  IMAGES. 

If  we  were  not  able,  in  some  way,  to  distinguish  between  images 
and  sensations,  we  should  suffer  from  constant  hallucinations. 
It  is  an  interesting  problem  to  discover  what  the  criteria  are  that 
enable  us  to  distinguish  our  images  from  sensations.  But  for 
the  present,  without  speculating  on  the  subject  in  a  general  way, 
it  will  be  better  to  obtain  some  concrete,  first-hand  information 
as  to  the  difference  in  special  cases.  The  method  suggested  is  to 
have  at  hand  a  set  of  objects — familiar  and  unfamiliar — and  im- 
mediately after  getting  the  image  of  an  object,  to  get  the  sensations 
aroused  by  the  same  object,  and  note  the  difference.  The  materials 
include  colors,  forms,  faces,  tones,  odors,  feeling  of  objects  held  in 
the  hand,  movements  of  the  members,  etc.  Keep  all  these  objects 
behind  a  screen ;  ask  your  partner  to  call  up  a  mental  image  of  one 
of  the  objects  or  experiences,  and  to  note  closely  the  characteristics 
of  the  image.  Then  present  the  object  and  ask  him  to  state  the 
introspective  difference  between  the  image  and  the  actual  sensa- 
tion or  perception.  Proceed  until  your  results  seem  to  you  to  be 
complete.  How  many  and  what  criteria  do  you  find?  In  how 
many  ways  do  the  two  types  of  experience  differ?  How  many  of 
these  differences  do  we  utilize  in  daily  life?  Are  all  the  differences 
always  present? 


98  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  61— SPEED  OF  IMAGERY. 

It  has  probably  been  noticed  that  some  images  came  up  more 
readily  and  promptly  than  others.  In  this  experiment  we  wish 
to  get  an  accurate  measure  of  the  "latent  period  "  of  different  sorts 
of  images.  The  method  is  as  follows:  The  experimenter  pre- 
pares a  list  of  names  of  colors,  tones,  etc.  He  reads,  for 
instance,  the  name  of  a  color  to  the  subject,  and  the  subject 
makes  a  sign  as  soon  as  he  mentally  sees  the  color;  the  ex- 
perimenter meanwhile  has  kept  track  of  the  elapsed  time 
— the  time  between  the  "stimulus" — here  the  name  of  the 
color — and  the  "response" — here  the  movement  by  which  the 
subject  indicates  that  he  has  the  image.  The  experimenter 
may  first  attempt  to  take  this  time  with  a  stop  watch,  but  this 
will  not  succeed  if  the  image  comes  very  qmckly,  and  resort  must 
then  be  had  to  the  chronoscope,  as  used  in  the  reaction  time 
experiments.  Some  practise  will  here  be  necessary,  on  the  experi- 
menter's part,  to  press  his  key  at  the  same  moment  in  which  he 
pronounces  the  name,  and  on  the  subject's  part,  to  open  his  key  as 
soon  as  the  image  is  clearly  present,  and  not  sooner.  Considerable 
conscientiousness  is  demanded  of  the  subject  in  this  experiment. 
The  experiment  might  be  varied  and  extended  almost  indefinitely; 
but  to  answer  the  question  whether  visual,  auditory,  olfactory  or 
tactile  images  come  up  most  quickly  it  will  perhaps  be  sufficient 
to  make  5  sets  of  50  tests  each;  one  set  to  consist  of  5  common 
colors,  one  of  5  faces  or  objects,  one  of  5  familiar  sounds,  one  of  5 
odors,  and  one  of  5  familiar  tactile  experiences.  The  restilts  of  the 
experiment  shovdd  be  carefully  worked  out  and  criticized.  The 
subject  should  also  be  introspectively  observant,  and  note  anything 
that  bears  on  the  subject  of  the  readiness  with  which  imagery 
occurs.  Present  results  in  form  of  tables,  gi\nng  averages  and 
mean  variations. 


EXPERIMENT  62— THE  FUNCTION  OR  USE  OF  IMAGES. 

In  the  early  history  of  psychology  great  use  was  made  of  images 
in  describing  all  the  higher  mental  processes.  For  example,  it  is 
sometimes  said  that  the  thought  of  an  individual  person  or  thing 
consists  in  some  form  of  image  of  it,  and  that  an  abstract  idea 
— applicable  to  any  one  of  a  class  of  things — consists  either  of  a 
vague,  "generic"  image,  or  else  of  the  image  of  some  individual 
of  the  class,  which  is  taken  as  the  representative  of  the  group; 
that  imagination  (constructive)  and  reasoning  are  different  waj^s 
of  combining  images;  that  perception  and  recognition  are  accom- 
plished by  combining  the  present  sensations  aroused  by  an  object 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  99 

with  images  of  that  or  similar  objects  derived  from  past  experi- 
ence. It  should  be  noted  that  these  explanations  are  more 
properly  theories  than  directly  observed  facts;  they  should  not 
therefore  be  taken  for  granted  at  the  start,  but  submitted  to  the 
test  of  experiment.  The  following  experiments  supply  a  partial 
test. 

A — The  Role  of  Images  in  Perception.  The  experimenter 
provides  a  number  of  objects,  to  be  seen,  heard  or  felt  by  the 
subject.  The  details  may  here  be  left  to  the  ingenuity  of  the 
experimenter.  These  objects  are  presented,  one  at  a  time,  to 
some  sense  of  the  subject.  The  subject  has  the  following  question 
to  answer  at  each  presentation:  Did  any  image  appear,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  presented  object;  and  if  so,  what  was  the  image?  The 
experiment  and  its  results  should  be  carefully  criticized. 

The  Staircase  Figure.  This  is  a  bare  outline  of  a  flight  of 
stairs,  without  perspective.  It  may  be  seen  in  more  than  one 
way.  Look  at  it  steadily,  and  see  if  it  changes  its  appearance. 
Note  whether  imagery,  visual  or  motor,  comes  in  at  the  moment 
of  change ;  also  whether  imagery  of  actual  stairs  is  present  during 
the  persistence  of  either  appearance.  What,  psychologically,  is 
the  difference  between  the  two  appearances? 

B — The  Role  of  Images  in  Discrimination.  Suppose  that  a 
person  has  to  notice  the  likeness  or  difference  of  two  things  which 
are  not  presented  to  sense  at  the  same  time :  how  is  it  possible  to  do 
this?  We  say,  in  a  general  sort  of  way,  that  he  must  carry  the  first 
thing  in  mind  till  the  second  appears,  and  so  compare  the  second 
with  his  memory  of  the  first.  But  in  what  form  does  he  carry  the 
first  thing  in  mind?  Does  he  carry  an  image  of  it?  This  question 
may  be  approached  by  the  following  experiments.  Individuals 
may  perhaps  differ  here,  as  in  other  tests  in  imagery;  and  the  same 
individual  may  get  different  results,  according  to  the  sort  of  things 
which  are  being  compared. 

Brightness.  A  set  of  grays,  ranging  by  small  steps  from  white 
to  black,  is  provided.  These  are  concealed  from  the  subject;  the 
experimenter  shows  one  card  to  the  subject  for  two  seconds,  then 
waits  ten  seconds  and  shows  another  card  (or  else  the  same  again) , 
and  the  subject  has  to  say  whether  the  second  is  lighter  or 
darker  than  the  first.  Record  is  kept  of  the  subject's  answers, 
and  the  errors  counted  at  the  close  of  20  trials.  But,  especially, 
the  subject  has  to  observe  whether,  in  comparing  the  second 
card  with  the  first,  he  has  in  mind  an  image  of  the  first  card. 
Answer  in  each  trial.  Try  various  degrees  of  difficulty,  several 
trials  for  each. 


100  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Lengths  of  Lines.  Lines  of  two  lengths  are  ruled  on  cards. 
The  experimenter,  as  before,  keeps  them  concealed  from  the 
subject;  he  shows  one  length  for  two  seconds,  waits  lo  seconds, 
then  shows  the  other  length;  the  subject  has  always  to  judge  which 
is  the  longer,  and  also  to  report  in  each  case  whether  he  was  con- 
scious of  an  image  of  the  first  line.  Full  record  is  kept,  both  of  the 
subject's  answers  and  of  his  right  and  wrong  judgments.  In  case 
the  subject  has  images  sometimes  and  not  at  other  times,  see 
whether  he  made  more  errors  proportionately,  with  or  without 
the  image.  Try  various  degrees  of  difficulty,  several  trials  for 
each. 

Tones.  Two  tuning  forks,  differing  by  4  vibrations,  are  used. 
The  subject  sits  with  his  side  to  the  experimenter,  2  meters  away 
from  the  forks,  and  with  his  eyes  closed.  If  one  of  the  subject's 
ears  is  better  than  the  other,  he  sits  with  the  better  ear  towards 
the  forks.  The  experimenter  sounds  one  fork,  allows  it  to  sound 
for  2  seconds,  waits  10  seconds,  and  then  sounds  the  other  fork 
for  2  seconds.  The  subject  has  each  time  to  say,  or  at  least  guess, 
which  is  the  higher  in  pitch — 20  trials.  The  subject  has  also,  as 
before,  to  report,  after  each  trial,  whether  he  had  in  mind,  at  time 
of  comparison,  an  image  of  the  first  tone.  As  before,  try  various 
degrees  of  difference. 

Distances  on  the  Skin.  A  "touch  compass"  is  used,  or  rather 
two  of  them,  the  points  of  one  being  separated  further  than  those 
of  the  other.  The  subject's  eyes  are  closed;  the  experimenter  ap- 
plies one  of  the  compasses  to  the  back  of  the  subject's  hand,  in  the 
longitudinal  direction  of  the  hand;  he  holds  the  points  there  for 
two  seconds,  waits  10  seconds,  then  applies  the  other  to  the  same 
part  of  the  hand.  The  subject  has,  as  before,  to  judge  which 
distance  is  the  greater,  and  report  the  presence  or  absence  of  an 
image  of  the  first  impression  at  the  moment  of  comparison. 
Try  various  degrees  of  difference,  several  trials  for  each. 

References — 

Woodworth — "The    Consciousness   of   Relation",    in 

Essays  in  Honor  of  William  James. 
Titchener — Experimental  Psychology  of  the  Higher 

Thought  Processes. 
Clarke — Conscious    Attitudes,  American  Journal    of 

Psychology,  April,  igii. 
Angell — Imageless  Thought,  Psych.  Rev.,  191 1. 
Hollingworth — Vicarious    Functioning    of    Irrelevant 

Imagery,  Journal  of  Philosophy,  Dec,  1911. 
Betts — The  Function  and  Distribution  of  Imagery. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  101 

EXPERIMENT  63— THE  ROLE  OF  ATTENTION  AND  IMAGERY 

IN  PERCEPTION. 

Purpose — To  discover  by  introspection  the  role  played  by 
imagery  and  attention  in  the  interpretation  of  visual  stimuli. 

Apparatus — A  series  of  12  puzzle  pictures,  in  which  the  task 
is  to  find  the  "hidden"  object. 

Procedure — The  cards  are  numbered  from  i  to  12.  Take 
No.  I,  read  the  suggestion  at  the  bottom  of  the  picture,  note  the 
time  and  proceed  to  "find"  the  "hidden"  object  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Observe  meanwhile  the  process  by  which  you  discover 
the  object.  The  visual  stimuli — i.e.,  the  marks  on  the  card, 
the  lines,  spots,  shadings,  etc. — remain  the  same  throughout,  but 
the  perception  of  the  hidden  object  will  not  always  be  present — it 
will,  more  or  less  suddenly,  "loom  up"  into  consciousness.  The 
question  is — What  factors  produce,  lead  to,  bring  on,  or  facilitate 
the  new  interpretation  of  old  stimuli?  Careful  introspection  is 
required  here,  before  a  certain  or  trustworthy  answer  can  be  arrived 
at.     Notice  especially — 

I — Whether  or  not  images  come  and  go,  in  the  process,  and 
whether  these  images  retain  their  original  character  or  change 
from  time  to  time. 

2 — Was  an  image  present  at  the  moment  of  discovery?  De- 
scribe the  image.  Do  you  think  it  played  an  essential  part  in 
the  process  of  discovery?     If  so,  point  out  how. 

3 — What  part  does  attention  play  in  the  process?  Having 
once  found  the  "hidden"  object  can  you  "hold  it" — i.e.,  can 
you  attend  to  it  constantly — or  does  it  come  and  go?  What  effect 
does  a  little  practise  have  on  such  fluctuation,  if  it  is  present? 

Conclusions — Write  up  the  results  and  introspections  from 
each  card,  separately.  Then,  from  a  general  view  of  the  results, 
make  such  generalizations  or  final  conclusions  as  you  think  are 
justified  by  your  data,  and  present  these  conclusions  in  a  separate 
paragraph. 


102  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Judgment. 

DISCUSSION. 

A  complete  study  of  the  topic  of  judgment  would  involve 
detailed  examination  into  at  least  the  following  four  chief  sub- 
topics or  aspects — 

A — The  nature  and  mechanism  of  judgments,  the  qualitative 
differentia  which  distinguish  judgments  from  other  elementary 
or  complex  experiences,  etc.  Problems  in  this  field  are  not  easily 
investigated  in  an  introductory  laboratory  course,  since  they 
require  considerable  practise  in  analysis  and  introspection. 

B — The  formSj  varieties  and  classification  of  judgments.  This 
may  be  more  properly  a  task  for  logical  rather  than  for  psychologi- 
cal investigation,  and  at  any  rate  does  not  easily  lend  itself  to 
objective  and  experimental  examination. 

C — The  basis  or  perceptual  criteria  of  typical  judgments — the 
data  on  which  we  rely  in  forming  our  judgments,  and  which  de- 
termine the  content,  direction  and  outcome  of  the  judgments  of 
special  varieties  under  given  conditions.  Study  of  these  factors 
requires  more  intensive  and  prolonged  work  than  is  at  our  disposal 
in  this  course. 

D — The  laws  or  behavior  of  judgments,  the  ways  in  which  these 
laws  are  modified  and  the  behavior  conditioned  by  specific  varia- 
tions in  the  judgment  situation.  By  way  of  illustration  of  these 
variations  may  be  mentioned  such  factors  as  individual  differences, 
practise,  the  material  or  trait  to  be  judged,  the  attitude  or  purpose 
of  the  judge,  the  influence  of  preceding  judgments,  the  category  or 
form  of  the  judgment,  etc. 

On  this  last  topic  (D)  the  following  questions  may  be  given  as 
typical  of  a  certain  type  of  inquiry  in  psychology,  and  experi- 
ments may  be  performed  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  some  light 
on  them. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  103 

SUGGESTED  PROBLEMS  IN  JUDGMENT. 

I — How  widely  do  people  differ  with  respect  to  their  judicial 
capacity  under  a  given  set  of  circumstances?  What  is  the  range 
from  best  to  poorest,  the  average,  the  variability,  etc.?  Are  there 
age  differences,  sex  differences,  etc.? 

2 — When  individuals  are  required  to  judge  the  same  material 
for  the  same  traits  on  different  occasions,  how  consistent  are  their 
various  determinations  from  time  to  time?  How  do  people  differ 
among  themselves  in  this  matter  of  personal  consistency?  To 
what  degree  do  these  factors  depend  on  the  material  to  be  judged, 
the  form  or  category  of  the  judgment,  the  interval  between  trials, 
etc.? 

3 — Is  there  such  a  thing  as  general  judicial  capacity — that  is  to 
say,  is  a  person  who  is  a  good  judge  under  one  set  of  conditions, 
with  a  given  kind  of  material,  etc.,  also  a  good  judge  under  other 
circumstances,  with  other  material,  etc.? 

4 — Is  there  any  relation  between  personal  consistency  and  judi- 
cial capacity?  Is  the  person  who  knows  his  own  mind  best  and  is 
most  sure  of  his  own  opinions  likely  to  be  either  a  better  or  a  poorer 
judge  of  the  minds  of  others  of  his  group  than  is  a  person  who  is 
not  so  self -consistent?  How  does  this  relation  vary  with  the 
material? 

5 — Are  people  more  certain  of  their  likes  or  their  dislikes?  Do 
people  resemble  each  other  more  in  their  dislikes  or  in  their  pref- 
erences? If  any  definite  tendencies  are  discoverable  here,  what 
is  their  probable  significance? 

References — 

Hollingworth — Experimental    Studies    in    Judgment. 
— Psychological  Researches  of  J.  McKeen 
Cattell,  Chap.  V. 
Thomdike — Mental  and  Social  Measurements,  Chaps. 
II  and  VIII. 


104  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

EXPERIMENT  64— EXPERIMENTS  IN  JUDGMENT. 

Procedure — Various  sets  of  material  are  provided.  Each 
set  is  to  be  arranged  in  order  of  merit  for  various  traits  or  qualities 
(sensory,  affective,  relational,  etc.)  by  each  individual  of  the 
group.  The  instructor  will  indicate  in  each  case  the  trait  to 
be  judged,  the  category  or  form  of  judgment,  the  mode  of  record, 
etc.  Each  individual  arranges  the  material  in  strict  order  of 
merit  (sometimes  by  the  group  method)  on  several  different 
occasions,  each  arrangement  being  without  reference  to  the 
previous  arrangements.  The  record  should  show  the  position  in 
the  series  assigned  to  each  item  by  each  individual.  Once  this 
is  done  the  following  procedure  will  throw  light  on  the  various 
questions  asked  in  the  foregoing  section. 

A — Record  the  position  assigned  each  item  by  each  individual. 
Calculate  the  average  position  for  each  item  on  the  basis  of  the 
various  individual  arrangements.  Arrange  the  items  in  a  final 
order  of  merit  as  determined  by  these  averages.  This  final  or 
average  order  may  now  be  considered  the  correct  or  objective 
order.  In  some  cases,  as  in  weights,  lines,  etc.,  this  order  can  be 
shown  to  be  correct  by  comparing  it  with  actual  physical  measure- 
ments of  the  items — that  is,  by  comparison  with  some  standard- 
ized scale  or  scales.  In  other  cases  no  such  standardized  scales 
are  available  (as  in  the  case  of  judgments  of  preference,  beauty, 
similarity,  interest,  etc.)  and  a  "correct"  order  will  then  mean  the 
average  order  of  the  group  of  judges. 

B — The  individual  arrangements  or  judgments  will  not  always 
agree  absolutely  with  this  final  or  objective  order.  In  so  far  as  a 
given  individual's  judgments  agree  with  the  objective  order  the 
individual  may  be  said  to  be  a  "good"  judge.  In  so  far  as  his 
judgments  differ  from  the  objective  scale,  he  may  be  said  to  be  a 
"poor"  judge,  or  a  non-representative  individual.  By  proper 
statistical  methods,  correlate  the  trials  of  each  individual  with  the 
objective  order,  thus  giving  a  numerical  measure  of  his  judicial 
capacity  or  representative  character  for  the  trait  and  material  in 
question. 

C — The  individual's  judgments  on  a  given  occasion  will  not 
always  be  found  to  agree  absolutely  with  his  judgments  for  the 
same  trait  and  material  on  other  occasions.  Correlate  the  indi- 
vidual's various  trials  with  each  other,  or  compute  their  variability. 
This  will  yield  a  numerical  measure  of  his  personal  consistency. 

D — By  comparing  the  variability  of  items  at  the  top  and  bot- 
tom of  the  series  the  certainty  and  agreement  of  likes  and  dis- 
likes may  be  observed. 

E — By  correlating  the  arrangements  for  various  related  traits, 
the  influence  of  form  and  category  of  judgment  may  be  studied. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  105 

The  Psycho-Metric  Methods. 

DISCUSSION 

By  way  of  introduction  and  general  reference  for  the  following 
experiments  it  will  be  well  to  read  the  following — 

Titchener — Text-book  of  Psychology,  Chap,  on  Intensity 
of  Sensation. 

— Experimental  Psychology,  Quantitative  Man- 
uals. 
Ladd  and  Woodworth — Physiological  Psychology.     Appro- 
priate sections. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XV. 
Witmer — Analjrtical  Psychology,  Chap.  VI. 
Hollingworth — Experimental  Studies  in  Judgment. 

— Psychological    Researches    of  J.    McKeen 
Cattell,  Chap.  V. 
Fullerton  and  Cattell — Small  Differences. 

PSYCHO-PHYSICAL  MEASUREMENTS. 

Among  the  first  problems  investigated  by  experimental  psychol- 
ogy was  that  of  the  relation  between  the  magnitude  (intensity, 
force,  weight,  etc.)  of  the  stimulus  and  the  corresponding  degree 
of  sensation.  It  was  soon  found  that  the  relation  was  not  directly 
proportionate — that  is  to  say,  doubling  the  stimulus  does  not 
result  in  twice  as  much  sensation,  nor  does  half  the  original  stimu- 
lus produce  a  sensation  only  half  as  intense  as  the  original  sensa- 
tion. From  the  time  of  Weber  and  Fechner  many  attempts  have 
been  made  to  determine,  within  the  various  sensory  modalities,  the 
precise  relation  between  increase  in  stimulus  and  increase  in 
sensation,  or  to  explain  in  other  ways  the  characteristic  results 
of  psycho-physical  experiments. 

This  problem  of  course  involves  the  whole  question  of  the 
measurement  of  sensation  intensity.  It  also  affords  opportunities 
for  the  study  of  many  related  problems,  such  as — individual 
differences  in  sensitivity;  the  possible  range  of  sensations  from 
minimiun  to  maximum;  the  psychology  of  discrimination,  com- 
parison and  judgment;  illusions;  constant  errors;  influence  of 
fatigue  and  practise;  and  many  other  problems  too  ntunerous  to 
mention.  As  the  experiments  proceed  many  of  these  problems 
will  be  suggested  by  your  own  results  and  observations,  and  some 
of  them  may  seem  important  enough  to  merit  further  study. 

In  the  history  of  psycho-physical  inquiry  several  methods  have 
been  evolved  which  have  become  standard  methods  of  experiment 
in  psychology.  The  various  characteristics  of  these  methods 
will  have  been  indicated  in  the  references  to  the  general  literature. 
They  may  be  further  discussed  in  the  class  room  or  in  the  labora- 


106  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

tory.  Each  of  the  methods  is  susceptible  of  application  to  a  wide 
range  of  materials  and  situations.  Some  of  them  require  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  mathematics  and  statistics  before  they  are 
completely  intelligible. 

These  methods  are  of  particular  interest  as  being  the  first 
attempts  to  introduce  accurate  and  controlled  procedure  into  the 
field  of  psychology.  They  are  usually  to  be  supplemented  by 
introspection,  observation  on  the  part  of  the  operator,  etc. 
Typical  experiments  by  each  method  may  be  performed. 


THE  METHODS  ENUMERATED. 

Chief  among  these  methods  are  the  following.  In  parentheses 
are  given  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  psychologists  who  have  em- 
ployed the  methods.  These  references  are  given  for  the  sake  of 
the  more  advanced  student  who  may  be  interested  in  the  problems 
and  results  of  the  various  methods,  as  well  as  in  the  procedure 
itself. 

I — The  Method  of  Limits,  or  The  Method  or  Minimal 
Changes — (Fechner,  Lipps,  Wundt,  Miiller,  Merkel,  Foucault, 
Cattell,  Jastrow,  Ebbinghaus,  Sanford,  Titchener,  and  many 
others) . 

2 — The  Method  of  Average  Error — (Fechner,  Kiilpe, 
Lipps,  Wimdt,  Cattell,  Miinsterberg,  Vierordt,  Schirnianjn,  Wood- 
worth,  Hollingworth,  and  many  others). 

3 — The  Method  of  Equivalents — (Weber,  Fechner  Wundt, 
Henri,  Jastrow,  Goldscheider,  Helmholtz,  and  many  others). 

4 — The  Method  of  Equal  Sense  Distances — (Plateau, 
Delboeuf,  Hering,  Wimdt,  Boas,  Lehman,  Merkel,  Cattell,  and 
many  others). 

5 — Method  of  Right  and  Wrong  Cases,  sometimes  called 
The  Method  of  Constant  Stimuli — (Muller,  Fechner,  Wtmdt, 
Angell,  Cattell,  Jastrow,  Merkel,  Kraepelin,  Ebbinghaus,  and  many 
others) . 

6 — The  Order  of  Merit  Method — (Cattell,  Wells,  Thorn- 
dike,  Hollingworth,  Strong,  Downey,  Norsworthy  and  Stunner). 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  107 

EXPERIMENTS  65  TO  70. 

Perform  a  typical  experiment  by  each  method.  Use  the  fol- 
lowing materials  and  problems,  consulting  with  the  instructor 
concerning  details. 

I — Method  of  Limits — Use  the  aesthesiometric  compass  to 
determine  the  two  point  threshold  on  several  different  areas  of 
the  skin.  Suggest  an  original  problem  which  might  be  investigated 
by  this  method.  Plan  the  present  experiment  so  as  to  throw  light 
on  several  related  problems. 

2 — Method  of  Average  Error — Use  the  kinaesthesograph, 
investigating  some  problem  in  the  psychology  of  movement  (per- 
ception of  force,  extent,  constant  errors,  memory  for  kinaesthesis, 
etc).     Suggest  a  new  problem. 

3 — Method  of  Equivalents — Use  arm  movements — one  arm 
in  front  of  the  body  and  the  other  behind  the  back.  Suggest 
some  other  experiment  which  might  employ  this  method  to  ad- 
vantage. 

4 — Method  of  Equal  Sense  Distances — Use  lifted  weights, 
lines  ruled  on  cards,  shades  of  gray,  etc.  How  could  this  method 
be  used  to  demonstrate  Weber's  Law?  Suggest  a  new  problem  in 
which  it  might  be  used. 

5 — Method  of  Right  and  Wrong  Cases — Use  the  sound 
pendulum,  to  determine  the  least  perceptible  difference  in  inten- 
sity of  sounds.  Suggest  an  original  problem  for  investigation  by 
this  method. 

6 — Order  of  Merit  Method — This  is  a  relatively  new  method 
and  is  especially  appropriate  for  studying  complex  material. 
Use  photographs,  handwriting,  advertisements,  etc.  Suggest 
several  new  problems. 


108  Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology 

Supplementary  Experiments. 

If  time  allows,  experiments  of  the  following  nature  may  be 
included.  Their  detailed  character  may  be  determined  by  the 
interests  of  students  or  instructor,  and  by  the  equipment  of  the 
laboratory. 

Affective  Experience. 

I — A  Typical  Experiment  by  the  Method  of  Impression. 
2 — Introspective  Analysis  of  the  Affective  Consciousness. 
3 — Formal  and  Structural  Aesthetic  Preferences. 
4 — Further  Experiments  by  the  Method  of  Relative  Position. 

References — 

Gordon — Aesthetics. 

Pierce — Studies  in  Space  Perception. 

Hollingworth — Advertising  and  Selling. 

— Professor  Cattell's  Studies  by  the  Meth 
od  of  Relative  Position. 
Titchener — Psychology    of    Feeling    and    Attentionx 

Experimental  Psychology  (Qualitative). 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chap.  XXIV. 

Experiments  in  Judgment,  etc. 

I — A  Typical  Experiment  in  Psychophysics. 

2 — Perceptual  Criteria  of  Typical  Judgments. 

3 — Judgments  of  Interval  and  Duration. 

4 — Quantitative  Measurement  of  a  Typical  Illusion. 

5 — Introspective  Analysis  of  Volition,  Thought,  Decision,  etc. 

References — 

Titchener — Exper.  Psychol,  of  the  Thought  Processes. 
— Experimental  Psychology   (Quantitative). 
Hollingworth — Experimental  Studies  in  Judgment. 
Brown — The  Judgment  of  Difference. 
Myers — Experimental  Psychology,  Chaps.  XI,  XIX, 
XXIII,  XXVI. 


Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology  109 

Books  by  H.  L.  Hollingworth. 

The  Inaccuracy  of  Movement  —  Archives  of  Psychology, 
No.  13  (Columbia  Contributions  to  Philosophy  and  Psychology, 
Vol.  XVII,  No.  3),  pp.  87,  June,  1909,  New  York.     80  cents. 

The  Influence  of  Caffein  on  Mental  and  Motor  Effi- 
ciency— Archives  of  Psychology,  No.  22  (Columbia  Contributions 
to  Philosophy  and  Psychology,  Vol.  XX,  No.  4),  pp.  167,  April, 
19 1 2,  New  York.     $1.50  (paper),  $1.75  (cloth). 

Advertising  and  Selling — (Principles  of  Appeal  and  Re- 
sponse), pp.  315,  New  York,  1913.     $2.00  net.     By  mail  $2.16. 

Experimental  Studies  in  Judgment — Archives  of  Psychology, 
No.  29  (Columbia  Contributions  to  Philosophy  and  Psychology, 
Vol.  XXII,  No.  3),  pp.  125,  December,  1913,  New  York.  $1.25 
(paper),  $1.50  (cloth). 

Outlines  for  Applied  and  Abnormal  Psychology,  pp.  25, 
July,  1914,  New  York.     25  cents. 

Outlines  for  Experimental  Psychology,  pp.  no,  Septem- 
ber, 19 14,  New  York.     $1.00. 


Published  and  For  Sale  by 

A.   G.    Seiler, 

1224  Amsterdam  Ave,, 

New  York  City. 


lie,  SnilTHFRIij  RFniriMAi  I  iPRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  510  092    0 


/->    A 


so^.hern  branch 
nhversit^'  ^ 
Lit 

LOS    A'NGtiurl 


